Holding a Grudge
by AaronCottrell97
Summary: Emily considers Donald and Douglas to be her brothers and she loves them very much, but her new friend David Rider holds a strong grudge against the Scottish twins for they did to Emily in the past. Despite Emily's pleas and orders to not cause any trouble or harm to them, David's grudge against Donald and Douglas is too much for him to ignore.
1. Fog of Distrust

Emily has been on good terms with Donald and Douglas ever since she and Thomas worked with them at Arlesburgh. Then after a little trouble one winter with a shipment of steel pipes and a giant snowball, Donald and Douglas made it up to Emily by giving her a Christmas tree all to herself. Then Emily had worked with Donald after Douglas had an accident, helping save Skiff from a storm, finding Dilly again and managing ballast trips with Donald. In short, Emily's sibling relationship with the Scottish Twins was spot on.

But one night, while the rest of the island was asleep, David Rider was outside the house he had been living in ever since he moved to Sodor. He was staring at the moon and gripping an old newspaper he had held onto for a long while, lost in thought. He was thinking lately about that night he and Emily saw Lawrence appear before them. Being a dedicated son, David would not go back on the promise he made to his father. He really wanted to explore the whole of Sodor over time so he could enjoy every aspect he could, but before he could do that, something was holding him back. Ever since he came to Sodor, and even for a little while when he was still doing goods deliveries onboard the Sea Emperor, a secret shadow of anger was hidden within him. He never showed it, but it was always in him to feel every once in a while. Among the other aspects in his life, there was one thought that had stuck with him like glue ever since he first heard about it. This thought had formed a grudge he held against a certain someone, or two. And Emily would find out very soon exactly what this was all about.

David stood up, still looking at the moon. "I will not let…them…stand in the way of my happiness…or Emily's." And he walked inside to go to bed.

The next morning, as the sun began to rise and light up Arlesburgh, Donald and Douglas woke up, rather keen to start work together. There was to be a passenger tour for the harbour that afternoon, and they were eager to be a part of that.

"Well, Donnie. This tour ought to be a fine one. Don't you think?" said Douglas.

"Aye. Always a bonnie job to oblige to fellow passengers," said Donald. And the two brothers set off to start work until the tour would be due.

Meanwhile, at Knapford Sheds, the sunrise was peaking beautifully through the windows. Fast asleep, inside the shed, Percy and Emily were snoring away after enjoying another mother-to-son ritual the previous night, like Percy proposed some time ago to help Emily feel less lonely.

As she felt the sunlight beaming on her face, Emily woke up and yawned. Then she looked to Percy who was still sleeping happily in her hold. She giggled happily as she puckered her lips and began kissing Percy's cheek to wake him up.

Percy giggled as he felt Emily's lips on his face. Then he woke up and saw her lovely smile.

"Good morning, sweetie," Emily greeted.

"Good morning, mother," Percy replied. "Did you enjoy last night?"

"Very much, Percy," said Emily. Then she looked outside. "Goodness, Percy! Look at that sun!"

Percy looked out and saw the pinkish clouds against the sun. "What a sight to wake up to!" he peeped happily.

"Well, Percy. We should start the day now. Good luck with the mail," said Emily.

"Thank you, Emily," said Percy. And they set off together to start their day's work.

At Knapford Station, Percy collected the mail wagons and waited at the platform for his green flag. Just then, the Thin Controller came out of the office with an envelope and approached Percy.

"Excuse me, Percy?" he said.

"Yes, Mr. Percival? What is it?" said Percy.

"This envelope has a passenger ticket for the tour of Arlesburgh harbour…and I wondered if our new friend David would be at all interested in the opportunity."

Emily heard that and thought this would be a possibility for David to explore the harbour, as a starter for what Lawrence wished of his son.

"I think that'd do nicely for David, sir," said Emily. "If Percy sees him, he can give it to him."

"Of course," said Percy. So the envelope was placed in a mail bag and placed onboard one of the mail wagons. Then the green flag waved and Percy was off. Along the way, he delivered the mail easy as pie, keeping watch for David to see if he would take the ticket.

Eventually, Percy stopped at Maithwaite Station to deliver more mail…and to his surprise, David was there, watching other trains go by. This was Percy's chance.

"Oh! David?" he whistled. "Good morning! We have something for you!"

A workman came by and checked the envelope for David, then handed it to him. David opened it and saw the ticket, and a small letter from the Thin Controller with it. He began to read it, but then suddenly frowned when he saw Donald and Douglas' name on the ticket, implying they would be pulling the train. He looked up at Percy with disinterest. Percy was puzzled.

Then suddenly, David tossed the envelope over his shoulder and walked away. "Keep it," he said as he left the station. "I have other things to be doing."

"What?" Percy asked. "What did he do that for?"

His driver shrugged and picked up the envelope. "I don't know, Percy. Something's clearly eating him. Maybe we should just give the ticket to someone else who may want to take the tour."

And Percy carried on with his mail run, but he didn't understand why David would turn down an offer like that. No one had ever done that with anything Percy delivered. He thought he should mention this to Emily when he next saw her.

When he did, Emily was perplexed with David's motion when she heard it from Percy.

"Oh…that's strange," said Emily. "I'll talk with him tonight, Percy. I promise."

"Alright, Emily," said Percy.

In Arlesburgh, the passenger tour went well, even without David being a part of it. Even Donald and Douglas hadn't heard of him yet. They both performed nicely and the passengers were all rather happy with the tour.

By the time Emily's work was finished, it was nearly dark. When she returned to Tidmouth Sheds, the other engines were already asleep…but she saw a few things that caught her eye. David was outside her berth beside the track, standing rather still. In his hand, he held a newspaper…the one he had the previous night. Beside him, between Emily and Molly's track, he had a wooden stand that had a big map of Sodor on it.

"David?" Emily whispered as she backed into her berth. "What are you doing here…and what's the map for?"

David looked up and seemed rather annoyed and restrained. Emily felt nervous. "David…are you alright?" she asked carefully.

"I've been better," he said gruffly.

"Well…I was looking for you today. Percy told me that you were given a ticket invitation for a tour of Arlesburgh harbour…and you rejected it. Why?"

"Well, I was busy getting some springs," said David. "The ones in my bed are a little weak, and I wanted to be ready. I was also busy getting some aluminum and iron springs to see if Daisy would be at all interested, and I sent them off to her. Just a little helping hand for her."

"Out with it, David," said Emily. "Why did you reject the ticket Mr. Percival sent you?"

David felt as though he could share his true thoughts with his father's engine and decided to speak the truth.

"Well, Emily," he said intently. "I thought the ticket was a big tease to me…especially given the names I saw of who was going to pull that train!"

"Why would you say that?" asked Emily. "When I heard about it this morning, I thought it would be a good start for you reaching out to the island like your father wanted you to do."

"Well, I want to fulfill his wish, no doubt. But given what you've been through all these years…and recently, I figured you would know why I rejected that ticket!" David replied.

"Well, I don't know what you're talking about!" Emily said, starting to get exasperated. "If you're thinking about Gordon and James bragging about pulling the express, you are wrong! They weren't the ones taking that Arlesburgh passenger tour, and I do not want you teasing or targeting them as such!"

"That's right," David said more quietly. "They weren't the ones pulling that train. Teasing Gordon and James doesn't matter to me like it did to Thomas. For a year and a half now, my personal target…has been two twin brothers."

Emily was confused at first, until David showed her the newspaper he was holding onto. It was dated two winters ago, and he turned a few pages in, until a small headline appeared. Emily looked and suddenly remembered.

"EMILY BADLY DERAILED ADMIST DONALD AND DOUGLAS' ARGUING," the headline said. Emily looked up and saw David looking her directly in the eyes. When he spoke, she could feel his anger building inside him.

"How is it that two Scottish twins, who have a sheer distaste for diesels and their devious deeds, had the nerve, the gall, and the audacity to try and seriously harm the most beautiful engine Sodor will ever see? How did they escape with nothing but a scolding, while your Christmas spirit was destroyed?!"

Emily now understood why David was suddenly so different compared to how he started out on Sodor and immediately answered. "So that's why you refused the ticket," she said. "How did you hear about my accident?"

"During my goods deliveries at sea, I picked up that news two winters ago," said David. "I knew most of Thomas' stories and some stories about you…but I NEVER imagined something like that would ever happen to you!"

Emily sighed. "Well, look, David. Donald and Douglas did cause me great trouble that day. That's a given. I was indeed quite frightened when I saw that snowball coming for me, and their arguing had gotten so out of hand, I had to scare them back with my temper to make them help me. And even as we approached Vicarstown, they were arguing among themselves again. That's a given too, but that doesn't mean they're bad engines…"

David didn't answer and placed a hand in his pocket. Out came four, fine-edged darts. Instead of him using a dart target, it became clear to Emily. He was going to throw the darts at the map of Sodor.

"David, exactly what are you doing?" she asked.

"Where are Donald and Douglas, Emily?" David asked back. "They caused you great fright and undeserved pain that day, and they need repercussion and consequence for such actions. I do NOT wish to hurt them. I only intend to give them a piece of my mind."

This told Emily that David would not do anything serious to the twins, but being Donald and Douglas' sister figure, she decided to hide some truth to protect them from any verbal attack they didn't deserve.

"I don't remember where they mainly work, and until you calm down about the matter, I won't bother to help you find them!" she wheeshed defensively. This woke Molly up as she looked over and saw David and the map.

"Well, let's see if I can do something to refresh your memory," David said as he took aim at the map with the first dart. "Now, as I asked before…where are they, Emily? Douglas, for example…is he on Rocky…RIDGE?!"

On "ridge," he suddenly threw a dart at the map, hitting right next to the "Lakeside," label, where the Rocky Ridge Line was located.

"…or Crovan's Gate…STATION?!" and on "station," another dart hit the "Crovan's Gate," label.

"What do you think, Molly?" David asked, looking at her.

"Hmph!" Molly sniffed, then went back to sleep.

"Hmm. I see," David pondered as he prepared the third dart. "Right smack in the middle at Blue Mountain Quarry…UHH!" And the third dart struck on the "Blue Mountain," label.

"Am I getting warm?" David grinned.

"I told you, I don't remember!" Emily replied stubbornly.

"Don't you realize an accident like that could cost a life?" David huffed with frustration as he threw the last dart at the map's sea. "I just wanted to issue a warning to them. For your own well-being and happy life. You were my father's engine after all, and I for one will NOT see them jeopardizing your happiness here ever again!"

"Please, David!" Emily begged as he retrieved the darts and put them away. "You don't know everything that really happened when-"

"Yes, Emily!" David glared. "I know all-too well of what they did to you two winters ago, trying to kill you when you were only trying to help them out! And their drivers agreed to let them swap back, proving they didn't care about you either! But you mustn't fear. Their arguments and excuses will be WORTHLESS against the power of the greatest sailor in the whole of Britain!"

"The greatest sailor in the whole of Britain was Sailor John…but for all the wrong reasons!" snapped Emily.

"Sailor John is GONE! Now, I'm going to teach those Scottish deceivers a lesson! You didn't do anything wrong that day, Emily…but they…they tried to kill you! Th-those TERRIBLE engines! Ohh, if only I was there that day, I'd show them!"

"Rubbish, David!" said Emily. "They DID NOT try to kill me! It was a situational, accidental circumstance! And to answer your earlier question, my Christmas spirit was NOT destroyed! They apologized sincerely to me and gave me a beautiful Christmas tree all for myself, and they had a choir sing "Silent Night," for me! My favourite Christmas song ever!"

This made David's anger fade a little and he looked a little surprised to hear that from Emily.

"And given your animosity against them right now…that reminds me," Emily continued. "Last summer, Thomas had a journey beyond Sodor to a Steelworks of sorts which was quite perilous for him…but that's not the point. Just a few nights before he went on that journey…I actually had a dream about you."

"About me?" David asked with surprise.

"Yes," said Emily. "The first time I ever saw you was in a dream. I was on a rail raft in the middle of the ocean when your ship came by and hauled me on deck. You came out and found me. I urged you to come home with me to Sodor, but you rejected as you were too busy at sea…then you mentioned how your fellow workers would argue over you leaving your work at sea. I compared it to how I was caught between Donald and Douglas…and then you told me to 'Stay away from those Scotsmen.' Those were your exact words…then you dropped me off at Brendam Docks, and I woke up."

"Hmm…" said David. "That's quite interesting. You dreamt of me even before we met…but when it comes to what I said about Donald and Douglas in that dream…I'd say that advice is pitch-perfect! Those words mean something here and now too, Emily! You stay away from those Scotsmen!"

"Too late for that, David," said Emily. "I've worked with Donald quite a bit already after Douglas had an accident. We are all well-connected as brothers and sister! I implore you to give them a chance! Then you'll see they mean well!"

David opened his mouth to speak, but then settled again, thinking about what Emily said. He didn't want to disobey her since he liked her so much, like his father did.

"Because I care for you, and because I want to oblige to what you wish for…I won't disrespect them, Emily…but I won't praise them either. If you want me to open up to them, they'll have to prove their worth to me directly or indirectly, with or without my demanding."

"Hmm. Fair enough," said Emily. David took the map of Sodor, folded it up as much as he could and placed it in his coat pocket. He then placed the wooden stand off to the side of the shed to move later. But as he turned to leave, he spoke an omen that would continue to play out for a quite a while.

"But if anything should happen to you again, by their doing…" he said as he turned around to Emily once more. "Let's match the power of David Rider, Captain of the Sea Emperor against the famous Donald and Douglas."

And with that, he turned once again and walked away into the night, leaving Emily to wonder exactly how the next few days would carry out between her brother figures, and her new friend…

* * *

The next day, Donald and Douglas had duties on the main line and started their day out at Knapford Station. David was there, watching them casually, but looking out for any dodgy behaviour. When the whistle blew, Donald and Douglas set off. David immediately left the station and waved down Bertie as he approached the entrance. David got onboard and rode Bertie alongside the line.

As Bertie sped along, David gazed out the window at Donald and Douglas. He was sure they were talking as he saw their mouths move. Through Bertie's entrance door, David could hear their voices faintly, and clearly heard displeasure and disagreement. It was clear that they were arguing. David looked further down the line and suddenly saw a signal turn red, and Edward was coming from another line. Donald and Douglas were still arguing and not paying attention to the red signal until Edward whistled with alarm.

"Oh dear! Look out, Edward!" called Douglas. He and Donald applied their brakes hard and just managed to stop before Edward's line as he huffed on forward.

"Douglas! You have to watch where you're going! You almost hit me!" Edward scolded behind him.

"Donnie, you nae should have started all this!" huffed Douglas. "I dinna want to hurt our dear Edward!"

"You didnae pay attention to the signal!" snapped Donald.

David shook his head as Bertie kept on his way until he got off a few stations later. He then took time to walk along the line on the road until he saw Donald and Douglas come along again. This time, they were approaching a set of points from other tracks. On one line, James was coming along with a goods train, and Percy was taking Annie and Clarabel for the day.

Donald and Douglas missed another signal, but Douglas caught on and applied the brakes again. When he and Donald stopped, their train was blocking both James and Percy's lines.

"Uhh, come on!" James exclaimed impatiently. "What's the holdup?!"

"Donald! Douglas! I have passengers to help!" called Percy.

"It was Douggie!" Donald complained. "He missed our signal!"

"Nae! You didnae alert me for that signal!" argued Douglas.

And they started arguing all over again, not making any effort to move for James or Percy.

David was not convinced by Emily's words. He decided to cut in to help James and Percy.

"Well! So much for being practical and proud!" he called out to the twins, who stopped arguing and looked at David as he called out some more. "You aren't being really useful, responsible or reliable at this rate!" And he walked on, leaving Donald and Douglas perplexed. They had no idea who that person was or why he suddenly called them out. They had never done anything to him.

"What be that lad's problem?" asked Donald.

"Must be another grumpy passenger, like the one who ruins the express for some," huffed Douglas. "Come on now, brother!" And they set off again, settled down for once.

"Finally!" huffed James as he continued with his train.

"Come on, Annie and Clarabel," said Percy. "We can go now."

"Very good, Percy," said Annie and Clarabel. David didn't bother to follow Donald and Douglas anymore and just turned around and walked back for the station to wait for another train to ride back to Knapford Station and hang around the village there until he saw Emily again.

That evening, Emily returned to Knapford Station to see David sitting on a bench on the platform.

"Hello, David," she said. "Did you try anything with Donald and Douglas yet?"

"Yes and no," said David. "I observed their behaviour since this morning. They didn't run into you, I can see…but they still caused some trouble for Edward, James and Percy. They missed a signal and nearly crashed into Edward, and they held up James and Percy's trains! They would not stop arguing over absolutely stupid, trivial and absurd reasons! They seem to spawn an argument over nothing! It's pretty clear they aren't very trustworthy when they work together!"

Emily listened to what David had said and was ready to answer. "Well, I can understand your point of view as far as their arguing goes. They can be very quarrelsome indeed. But that's how siblings are. They argue over small things quite commonly. But that doesn't make them a bad sort."

David sighed. "I just can't believe their arguing got you into such an unexpected and ill-spirited predicament."

"It may not be easy for you, David, but I urge you to open yourself up to those twins and give them another chance," Emily replied. "There will be a time when they behave responsibly, and when they do, they can be really useful. Now if you'll excuse me, I have something to do myself. I'll see you tomorrow, David." And she set off by herself while David made his way home.

Donald and Douglas were both waiting at a red signal at a junction on their way back to Arlesburgh, when Emily came by to see them.

"Donald? Douglas?" she called.

"Oh! Hello, Emily," said Donald. "What brings you here?"

"My brothers," said Emily. "Did you see David anywhere during your day's work?"

"David? Who is David?" asked Donald.

"Young looking man. Purple shirt, black sailing coat?" said Emily.

Douglas remembered. "Aye, Emily. That's his name? He just seemed like a grumpy passenger to me."

"Aye, calling us out during our little quarrel on the line with James and Percy!" said Donald.

"He is not a grumpy passenger," Emily corrected. "He is my original driver's son!"

"Lawrence?" said Douglas, suddenly feeling sad over his death. "I'm so sorry, Emily. I never knew Lawrence was a father."

"Neither did I," said Emily. "But David is his son, yes. He's been with us for several months now. He used to be a Navy member when he was much younger, and he captained his own ship, the Sea Emperor. Then when he heard of Lawrence's death he decided to come live here in his stead."

"Ohh," said Donald. "Most interesting, Emily."

"Lawrence seemed to like us well enough," said Douglas. "But why did David show so little enthusiasm for us? I know we weren't doing our best today…"

"Well…he's rather touchy about what happened to me two winters ago," Emily explained. "That's why he must have approached you with disinterest today…but I'm trying to make him see past that. You see, he doesn't know everything that happened between us over this past little while. I hope that if we all give each other time, he can be a good friend to the two of you."

"Oh…well, I hope he can come to like us," said Donald. "He'd surely understand better once he knows everything aboot us and you."

"I believe he could be a fine addition to our vocabulary of friends," said Douglas. "He certainly know how to speak up in a quarrelsome situation."

"I hope he can warm up to you too," said Emily. "Maybe he just needs time to get used to you. Have a good evening, you two." And Emily set off for home while Donald and Douglas returned to Arlesburgh. As night fell over the island, Donald and Douglas fell asleep, wondering what David would bring to them, good or unpleasant. And Emily fell asleep, hoping for a fair outcome for the situation.

But that night, as he slept in bed, David was dreaming something terrible and frightful for him to see in his mind…

_David was on Gordon's Hill, when he heard Emily's voice._

_"Wait! No! I don't think this is a good idea! Please, you two! I can't hold the train!"_

_On the line beside him, a long train of steel pipes was creaking and groaning at the angle of the hill, when it slowly began to slip down again. David could hear the voices of Donald and Douglas arguing above him higher up the en suddenly, a giant snowball thundered right past him. He looked down to where it was going and gasped. He saw Emily struggling against the heavy flatbeds down below and trapped against the oncoming snowball._

_"Emily! Look out! EMILY!" he yelled as he began running down the hill._

_Emily was at the back of the train, straining against the weight, when she looked up and gasped. The snowball was coming down…straight for her!_

_"Oh no, oh no! Oh NOOO!" cried Emily. She cried out again and shut her eyes._

_And suddenly, the snowball hit her head-on, right in the boiler and burying her deep in snow as it sprawled her over. A big cloud of snow burst into the air and all that could be seen beneath it was a big blanket of snow. Nothing else._

_"EMILY!" David yelled as he felt himself spiraling away from her…_

"Agh!" David exclaimed as he woke up and looked around. His clock read 5:30 a.m. He frantically got out of bed, washed up, dressed and ran down to Tidmouth Sheds as the night began to brighten into morning. To his relief, Emily was there, perfectly alright…but after the nightmare he had, his anger had just been reopened and with a basic image of what happened to Emily, he forgot all about the promise he made to her about not disrespecting the twins. He immediately went to find a certain engine to talk to and make arrangements with…and Donald and Douglas' belief about David would soon be greatly challenged.

It was rather cloudy and bleak when morning came. Emily and Gordon were at Knapford Station, waiting for their passenger trains to be ready. Emily looked up and could only see white and grey clouds everywhere. It was a rather colourless and cool day. She also noticed that David was nowhere to be seen.

"Hmm. Gordon? Have you seen David at all this morning?" she asked.

"Well…I recall seeing him riding with Caitlin as I came here earlier," said Gordon. "She has no work for today. That's all I know."

"On Caitlin?" said Emily. "I wonder why he'd go with her…" And she set off with her passengers, having very little idea of exactly what David would soon do out there…

Donald and Douglas, meanwhile had passengers of their own to take to Black Loch. Since Emily's passengers were bound for the main line stations, Donald and Douglas were chosen to take the Black Loch route. With the cloudy day above them, the passengers were not as pleased as they could have been on a clear day, but still took the chance to walk around the beautiful route while Donald and Douglas waited. They gazed at the lake and the cliffs around them, and the castle across the lake.

"A fine place, ain't' it, Donnie?" said Douglas, trying to make conversation.

"Aye indeed," said Donald. "A lovely place for any engine to be."

Unawares to Donald and Douglas, Caitlin was hiding behind the bend by the cliff, and David had stepped outside of Caitlin, listening to everything the twins were saying.

"It's easy to see why Emily loves it here, isn't it, Douggie?" said Donald.

"Aye. And Thomas loves it here too…wherever he may be out in the world right now," pondered Douglas. "…I just wonder when he'll be back."

"Hard to know, brother," Donald replied blankly.

"He was quite a persistent little lad when he was here with the rest of us," said Douglas. "He was certainly cheeky, but he still persisted to do his best whenever he could. I just wonder what stories he may have to tell us…and tell Emily when he comes back."

"We're also persistent lads, Douglas. Even if it can even be exhausting at times, we still be hard workers, do doubt," said Donald.

"If only we didnae argue as much as we did," said Douglas. "I still hear Emily's yells of anger that day…we should have been together at the back in the first place."

"And Douggie…just what could be up with that David fellow?" asked Donald. "Even though we were arguing a-plenty yesterday, I wonder if he could have been a little more open up to us, like he did with the rest of the Steam Team. We'd never did anything to him, unlike what accidentally happened to Emily…"

A few seconds later, Donald and Douglas looked ahead…and there was David, walking solidly towards them. All the passengers turned to look, and Donald and Douglas just looked at the young captain, who had a look of strained frustration in his eye.

"It seems, despite your exhaustive, persistent strategies, you still have a relentless arguing problem, Numbers 9 and 10," David said coldly. "And I'm afraid it's quite extensive. How dare you stand where she stood. Tell them how it happened that winter! Tell them how you LOOKED her in the eye - an engine who TRUSTED you - and tried to KILL her! Tell them!"

Before Donald and Douglas could speak, Caitlin suddenly steamed out from behind the bend into view, with a look of steel fury in her eyes. She had no idea of what happened to Emily when she saw her arrive at Vicarstown that day before she left herself. Such a thought filled Caitlin with a strong sense of anger too.

Suddenly, she took a short, but sudden lunge toward Donald and Douglas, hissing steam loudly. Donald and Douglas began to reverse ever-so slightly in little waves of fear. Then Caitlin lunged again, slightly faster and hissing more steam. Then another lunge. Donald and Douglas reversed quickly with the empty coaches rolling behind them, and off the Black Loch property.

Caitlin then began to chase the twins head-on, as if she were about to crash into them, even if she had a skirt instead of buffers. Suddenly, Donald and Douglas reversed so roughly that their coach coupling jolted off their tender and they both retreated down another line to escape Caitlin.

"COWARDS!" Caitlin yelled after them before looking at the coaches. "Well, I had no work today. I may as well make myself useful."

After finding a wye line and turning herself around on it, Caitlin retrieved the empty coaches and returned to the Black Loch property to take the passengers on their way until their run was done back to Knapford Station. While the passengers were on schedule, they were all a little confused about what happened at Black Loch and why.

David got off of Caitlin and left the station before the passengers got off. Then as the passengers left their coaches, Caitlin heard Emily's whistle as she pulled up alongside the streamlined engine.

"Hello, Caitlin," said Emily. "You seem angry. What's wrong?"

"Oh. Hi, Emily," said Caitlin. "Earlier today, I heard the most monstrous scheme I ever imagined! I never knew all this time, that Donald and Douglas tried to…to…to do away with you, two winters past!"

"What? No! Never!" Emily exclaimed. "Where would you get such a thought?!" All the passengers who were still on the platform turned and listened as Caitlin answered.

"I remember glimpsing you when you came to Vicarstown that day as I left…I could see you were spotted with snow…but David and I were at Black Loch today, and we heard Donald and Douglas mention you and David. Then David walked out and accused them of such. After what he demanded Donald and Douglas to confess to the passengers that they had tried to kill you that winter…I…I could hardly bear such a thought about you. So I went for them. I lunged for them like an angry mother bear protecting her cubs, as it were."

"Excuse me, Caitlin," said Emily. And she told Caitlin all about that incident just being an accident, how Donald and Douglas were very sorry and how they made amends the very next day. And about how she helped Donald while Douglas was away. When Emily finished explaining, Caitlin felt quite ashamed, and the passengers all settled down. They now understood just as well as Emily did about the twins as they left the platform.

"I'm so sorry, Emily," Caitlin sighed. "I didn't know it was just an accident. Just so you know, Donald and Douglas are both okay, they're alright. They just left very quickly and I helped their passengers the rest of the way. I'll apologize to them as soon as I can."

"Thank you, Caitlin," said Emily. Then she frowned. "And I think I have to talk to David."

"Thank you, Emily," said Caitlin as she set off again.

Later that evening, after Emily had finished all her work for the day, she saw David on the platform at Knapford again. She remembered everything Caitlin had told her and was ready to get a little rough.

"David!" Emily said loudly. David looked up alertly.

"Yes, Emily?" he asked, sounding nervous.

"What were you thinking?! You assured me that you would NOT disrespect Donald and Douglas!" Emily scolded. "And only two days after that promise, you break it by hiding inside Caitlin and making her think they tried to kill me, when I CLEARLY told you they did NOT try to!"

David sighed and explained himself. "Well, Emily. Last night, I had a terrible nightmare about your accident." As he described the nightmare, Emily listened to everything and understood his point of view again.

"Hmm. Well, your nightmare was pretty close, David. Except the snowball didn't hit me head-on. It just hit my tender and lurched it right over. I was partially sprawled over, but not buried."

"Well, that makes me feel a little better," David replied. "I'm very sorry, Emily. I want to hold my promise to 's just that, that nightmare made me feel a great wave of anger that I couldn't hold in for your sake. You lost an old friend, and I lost a father. I couldn't bear to lose you too!"

Emily managed to smile. "I admire that you care so much about me, David. That's what friends do. They care for each other very dearly. But in Donald and Douglas' case, I have an order to make of you. NOT a request. An order."

"I'm a captain, you know…but what order is that, Emily?" asked David.

"Do not make the same mistakes that Thomas would with his 'inner demon,' as we called it," Emily ordered. "There was a time when Thomas would go to major extremes just to defend me from insults or accidents. I won't talk about all the details now, but I'll just say, while it was to assure my safety and happiness, it was still a dangerous trait of his until he managed to vanquish it with Edward's help as well as mine."

David nodded. "Yes, Emily. I will hold to this order. No exceptions. And as I told you two days ago, I don't want to harm Donald and Douglas by any means. It's not in my person to do so. I just wanted them to know that if they ever did do anything wrong to you, accidentally or intentionally, I would be very unamused by the matter."

Emily straightened her lip as she left the station and David went home. As it turned out, David's first encounter with Donald and Douglas was rather heated and unpleasant. He had seen how the twins behaved together, and he didn't like what he saw. But next, he would observe how they worked separately. There was no telling yet on whether it would be a better or worse result for David to see for himself. Only time would tell.

* * *

Alright, our next big story is here, Jeremy has practically been itching to get to this one since almost of it was his idea. Get ready for more drama, cause there's an insane amount more coming in the upcoming chapters. Until then, leave your reviews, tell us what you thought of it, and we'll see you all in the next chapter.


	2. Buffer Bashing

David Rider was not happy with Donald and Douglas and what they had done to Emily when she went to help them with the shipment to Vicarstown. He had already had two encounters with them, and neither one of them went very smoothly. As much as he wanted to oblige to Emily's orders not to cause her brothers any trouble, David still could not fully escape the wave of anger he had carried in him ever since he heard such news. After he had seen the twins working poorly together, it was now time for him to see what would happen when the twins worked separately.

Even though winter was over, there was still some days when the weather was rather cool, since Spring had not yet turned to Summer. During the night after David had accused Donald and Douglas at Black Loch, a light frost had formed over most of the railway, which would affect Donald and Douglas' performances the next day…and even without frost to help the twins cause trouble, something would happen that would make David overstep his boundaries a little bit, and make Emily a little cross.

Once again, the railway had some parts of track that needed maintenance. The ballast beneath the iron frames were becoming too old to stay and needed to be replaced. When this happened, Donald and Douglas would take turns to bring a ballast train from the Small Railway and then another engine, usually James would come and take the ballast to bring it to the repair site.

When morning came, Donald and Douglas woke up again in their shed at Arlesburgh. They were both feeling a little uncertain about the recent events. Even though Caitlin had apologized to them for her behavior at Black Loch, they were now slightly afraid of David after he accused them so harshly.

"You alright, Douggie?" asked Donald.

"I dinna know, Donnie," said Douglas. "David really does nae seem to like us."

"Perhaps we should try to stay out of his way for a while," suggested Donald. "I only hope that Emily can help him around his bad feelings toward us. For now, I must be off to collect the ballast for James." So Donald left the sheds and quickly managed to collect the ballast from Bert, Mike and Rex.

Meanwhile, James was waiting for Donald to come so he could collect the ballast. Of course, David had heard some details about Donald and Douglas' schedule on this matter and had already come to secretly watch how his adversaries would perform one at a time. He was not very keen or optimistic about this observation either. He vainly hoped this would go better than it did when the twins worked together. Soon enough, Donald came by and David watched.

"Here yee are, James," he whistled. "This ballast ought to help with the repairs."

"I only hope you perform better than you did two days ago," James replied, remembering when he and Percy were blocked on the line.

"Och, do yee?" Donald burst out. "Still thinking aboot that?! It wasnae me! It was my brother!" And he stubbornly went to idle in a siding to let James pass. But a hard frost had made the rails icy. When Donald tried to stop, his wheels locked and he slid on the ice. Before he could say "Great Scott!" he hit the buffers hard. That managed to stop him, but these buffers were old and ended up being badly damaged. Donald was lucky not to be hurt, but he was still embarrassed.

David felt as though Donald wasn't being careful and called out to him again. "Even without an argument, you're still a burden, I see! You should go in for the Skating Championships!" And he walked off again, feeling no better. It seemed to him that even without someone to argue with, Donald could still be troublesome.

But when the Thin Controller heard what had happened, he knew all-too well that Donald wasn't to blame, but he still issued a warning to be careful. Soon after, workmen were sent to repair the buffers, which would take three days.

When David met Emily later that day at Elsbridge Station, she asked what he had been doing that day.

"I'm still observing those brothers," he said. "Their performance together was bad enough for me, but now it seems that even when they aren't together, they still spell trouble. I saw Donald huff carelessly into a siding and smash the buffers in that siding. Now there is to be three days' work to fix those buffers! In other words, Donald just cost those workmen three days of their own schedule they might have wanted to follow themselves!"

Emily sighed. "It was a frosty morning, David. Don't you think Donald was just unable to help it? That was cold weather, not him being a bad engine! Even Mr. Percival knows he didn't mean to do it. That should be enough for you."

"I don't know, Emily," David said, shaking his head. "I just don't know…"

Over the next two days, when David watched Donald and Douglas take their turns with the ballast, nothing serious happened. The frost was over and there was no problem with slipping for either brother. David began to ease his displeasure a little…but it was worthless, given what would happen the very next day.

The next day, David was watching as Douglas drew his ballast trucks to a halt in their siding while James arrived to collect the train. The buffers were fully repaired and the workmen were painting them with a smart, red paint like James' colour.

"Here they are, James," Douglas said cheerfully. "What are ye going to do now, now that this job is finishing?"

"Pull some passenger trains, I hope," replied James. "I'm getting tired of doing this all the time."

"Och, never mind," said Douglas. "Today's the last one."

His fireman uncoupled the trucks and climbed back in. Then Douglas moved slowly into the siding, toward the new buffers.

"That looks smart," said Douglas. "Much better than before. It must be a good thing the old ones were broken, making way for these beauties."

His driver applied the brakes. Nothing happened. He tried again. Still nothing!

"Help!" exclaimed Douglas. "I can't stop!"

The workmen watched in dismay as Douglas ran steadily along the line and smashed into the buffers they had spent three days mending.

"Ouch!" said Douglas. "That hurt!"

The new buffers had stopped him, but since Douglas had been moving faster than Donald, he was in a terrible mess. His front was badly bent, and he was smeared with bright red paint, that had not had time to dry. Before David could shout at Douglas, the foreman took the words out of his mouth.

"You silly, great engine!" the foreman scolded, waving his paintbrush angrily, which still had red paint on it and flew onto Douglas' nose.

"Three days' work!" the foreman said crossly. "And in three SECONDS, you come and smash it all to pieces!"

Douglas' front wheels were off the rails and James had to come along and pull him back a little. Then the Thin Controller came by and saw the commotion.

"What's all this, then?!" he demanded. "Douglas? I warned Donald to be careful with icy tracks! I figured you would know as well too!"

"It wasnae me!" Douglas complained. "Perhaps my brakes weren't working perfectly."

"I wouldn't think so, Douglas," said his driver. "The brakes were working. It was all the ice."

"Be that as it may, you wasted all the work these men put into these buffers, Douglas," the Thin Controller scolded. "Perhaps leaving that paint all over you for today will teach you to be properly careful with icy tracks! Now make yourself useful and gather some coal trucks from the Coaling Plant and refill all the chutes, by yourself!"

"No fair!" Douglas huffed as the Thin Controller turned to leave. David turned to leave too, feeling even angrier. First Donald had broken old buffers, then Douglas had broken brand-new buffers that weren't even completely finished. After this little incident, David couldn't leave his anger alone. He travelled across the island to another spot to watch Douglas from…

Douglas was soon on his way to collect the coal trucks. He was now rather grumpy, being splattered with red paint and having to stay that way throughout the day. When he passed Gordon and the express, Gordon laughed at the mere sight.

"Oh dear, Douglas! Red paint is most indignant for an engine like you!" he exclaimed. "Black is quite fine and blue was a fair choice when you and Donald had that change, but red will never do!"

"Quit your guffawing!" Douglas wheeshed back. When he arrived at the Coaling Plant, all the trucks began teasing Douglas immediately.

"Spotty Douggie!" they laughed. "He's a circus train! A spotty clown!"

"Shut up!" Douglas demanded as he buffered to them roughly and pulled them along to deliver to the coal chutes along the line.

All along the line, Douglas bumped his trucks roughly every time he stopped at a chute. As the journey continued, the trucks were becoming annoyed. They knew that Donald and Douglas were very headstrong with dealing with trucks, but they still wanted to pay Douglas out. So they made a plan.

Several chutes later, Douglas had to go over Gordon's Hill to reach the last few chutes. As he approached the base of the hill, he passed by Percy who was managing his own goods train. When he saw Douglas huff alongside him, he was surprised.

"Douglas? Why are you spotted in red paint?" he asked.

"He's the spotty clown today!" the trucks laughed.

"Quiet back there!" Douglas shouted as he jolted to a stop to bump the trucks, but their chance for payback had come. They pushed Douglas right back.

"On, on, on!" they yelled.

"Now, none of that!" Douglas ordered. But the trucks kept pushing him on. Douglas tried to keep control, but it was no good. As they turned round the curve towards the hill, the trucks suddenly pulled back too hard, they tipped over and stopped Douglas from going any further…and blocked Percy's line.

"Oh no! Douglas!" Percy huffed, rather frustrated now. "Why weren't you more careful? I already had trouble with you before with Annie and Clarabel! This is getting silly!"

Douglas was losing patience now. "Percy, I have had a rather hectic day. I be grateful at the very least, if you would NOT get cheeky with me right now! And I'm not bein' silly!"

Percy and Douglas began to argue now over what caused the accident. But suddenly, an earth-shattering yell rang out from the top of Gordon's Hill. "DOUGLAS!"

The No. 10 engine looked up and could faintly see David pointing down at him. "YOU HURRY UP AND STOP ARGUING AND GET YOUR TENDER UP HERE! MOVE IT!"

_"Here…! Here…! Move it…! Move it…!"_ the words echoed through the air for a moment before fading away.

Harvey was called on haste to clear the mess and rearrange Douglas' trucks back on track. Now Douglas could carry on. But as he reached the top of the hill, he saw David standing there with his arms crossed.

"You may be allowed to mess with workmen and buffers," he grumbled. "But it's quite clear to me, that both of you are too troublesome to be really useful, together or not! You're making it much harder for me to want to oblige to Emily's wish and make me like you!"

As Douglas passed David and went down the other side, he fumed angrily. After everything he had been through so far, he was in quite a bad mood. By the time he reached the bottom of the hill, he was simmering angrily. The trucks didn't see fit to bother him anymore and behaved well for the rest of the trip, right until the work was done that evening.

But by the time Douglas returned to Knapford Station to leave his trucks in a siding, he was so angry, he wasn't paying attention to the signals. Edward was crossing the points to fetch his coaches for an evening train, when Douglas began to reverse impatiently toward the siding next to Edward, threatening to intercept the old engine.

"Douglas, watch out!" Edward called. "I'm right behind you!" Douglas was still in a bad mood and didn't pay attention.

"Douglas! Douglas!" Edward shouted as he whistled with alarm.

"Edward?" Douglas called, suddenly afraid. But it was too late. His trucks hit Edward as he began to cross over the points…and Edward tipped over onto his side, blocking over two separate tracks.

"EDWARD!" Douglas whistled. He frantically found another siding, left his trucks there and rushed over to his friend. "Edward, are you hurt?"

"I don't think so," said Edward. "But why did you do that?"

"I'm very sorry, Edward," said Douglas. "I've just had quite a bad day. I just hope you can be helped back up quickly before…oh no!" Douglas looked to the side of the yards…and there was David.

He just stood there, keeping quite still. Then he walked hastily toward Douglas and stepped into his cab. He came right up to Douglas' driver and whispered something to him. His driver reluctantly nodded and agreed to what David had whispered. He stepped out and made his way home for the night, while David took control of Douglas, being guided a little by the fireman.

After Douglas had been taken away from the yards, Edward's driver called for Judy and Jerome to help Edward back on track. He wasn't much hurt and was soon on his way with his evening passenger run.

Later that night, Emily was resting in Tidmouth Sheds with the other engines, when she began to wonder. She had not seen Donald and Douglas all day, and she hadn't seen David either. She hoped that nothing too serious had happened between him and her brothers, and decided that maybe she had to go look for them.

As she huffed along the line under the stars, she kept an eye out for David, Donald and Douglas, but didn't see them anywhere. After nearly forty minutes of searching, Emily made her way to Arlesburgh to see if her brothers were there. She approached their shed and saw Donald…but not Douglas.

"Donald?" she said softly.

"Oh. Evening, Emily," said Donald. He seemed concerned. "Have you seen Douglas at all today? He's not back yet."

"No I haven't. I haven't seen David either. I'm looking around for them, Donald," said Emily. "Don't worry. If I find Douglas, I'll let you know."

Donald smiled as Emily left the shed and continued her search. A few minutes later, as she was approaching Arlesburgh Yards, where Thomas had to sleep during the construction of the Harwick Branch Line, what she saw made her stop and remain very quiet.

"Douglas?" she whispered faintly.

She saw the shed where Ryan and Daisy usually slept. Douglas was being reversed into the shed in the berth beside Daisy. Then, to Emily's surprise, David got out from Douglas' cab. He strode outside, fetched a chain from the worker's shed beside the berth, and hitched it on both sides of the berth's entrance, giving Douglas a sense of imprisonment. David then fastened the chains with two locks.

"I'll give you a night down here to think it over," he grunted to Douglas as he placed the keys in the worker's shed. Douglas watched miserably as David turned to leave. But then, he stopped and turned back to Douglas once more.

"But if you or your brother launch another shenanigan…on my father's engine…NO MORE Mr. Nice Guy!" he smiled fiendishly. And holding that smile, he began to walk away, when Daisy suddenly sneezed in her sleep, letting off a blast of diesel exhaust.

David staggered and gagged from the exhaust's smell. "Whoa! Agh, Daisy! You thick-headed chunk of fish bait!" he grouched before striding away.

After David had left, Douglas frowned. "I'd NEVER trouble the lassie on purpose! Never! NEVER!" he yelled out into the night.

"Excuse moi? Le nerve!" Daisy sniffed as she went back to sleep.

Emily suddenly came over and saw Douglas' current state as she stopped in front of him behind the chain.

"Oh, dear! Douglas?" she asked worriedly.

Douglas looked up. "Oh, Emily! My bonnie sister," he gasped. "You're a lovely sight for me to see!"

"Whatever happened to you, Douglas?" asked Emily. "Why are you spotted in red paint…and why has David locked you up in here?"

"Well…thank goodness you're here, Emily. I'd be happy to tell you everything…" So Douglas told Emily everything that had happened from when he crashed into the buffers and got smeared with the paint, to when he had his accident at Gordon's Hill, to when he accidentally knocked Edward over, and how David had seen all three of the incidents, and now there he was, locked up by David to think the day over.

"Good heavens, Douglas! You have had quite the day!" Emily gasped. "But don't worry. I'll get you out."

"You will?" asked Douglas. "David did say it's just for one night."

"Well, you see, Douglas," said Emily. "That's the point. You will be staying here tonight, but that's because I'm gonna fool David into thinking I didn't find out about this. I won't get after him until early tomorrow morning. That's when I'll order him to let you go. He won't disobey me. Just be patient, and you'll be out of here, I promise."

She managed to buffer to Douglas, even with the chain and she gave him a kiss on his cheek, making him manage to smile before she went on her way, making sure she informed Donald of the situation on her way back…

The next morning, Emily woke up early, just at sunrise, before the other engines were awake and remembered her plan. She got herself into the right tone and energy set and started out to find David.

Once again, she found him on the platform at Knapford Station, resting on one of the benches. As she stopped beside him, she let off steam loudly to get his attention. He looked up and felt his heart jump at the question she asked him, in a hard, strict tone of voice.

"Did you really think I wouldn't find out?"

"About what?" asked David.

"You and your little face-off with Douglas last night," Emily said sternly.

"Emily, if you saw what he did, you'd be with me on this one," said David. "He ruined newly repaired buffers, upset his own train and knocked Edward over! EDWARD, for goodness sake! The oldest engine in the Steam Team! That is completely inexcusable! I did it to protect Edward!"

Emily blew her whistle, which made David listen. "Douglas told me what he had been through last night!" she hissed. "I was there last night and saw everything! He may have been bad-tempered after such a humiliating accident and getting covered in red paint, but he DID NOT mean to knock Edward over! That was a real accident! And Edward wasn't hurt! And YOU locked Douglas in a shed as if he was a prisoner! You are going to go back to that shed and LET HIM GO! RIGHT NOW!"

David groaned under his breath, but left the station and waited until Bertie came by. Before long, David was riding up the island until he'd find a place close enough to those sheds so he could fulfill Emily's little demand for her brother figure.

As the sun rose brighter and brighter, Douglas was still asleep in his little confinement with Daisy, who was wishing she could be left alone her way. Through the night, the red paint had become rather crusty on Douglas and he just wanted to wash it off. His driver eventually came by to pick him up and start their day as usual, when all of a sudden, someone else's hand smacked Douglas' cheek quite hard, and in that instant, a sudden yell split the air. "SURPRISE!"

Douglas gasped himself awake and saw David towering in his face.

"Well, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you didn't like it here!" David growled as he grabbed the keys from the worker's shed and unlocked the chain to let Douglas out. As he began to walk away, he suddenly saw Daisy inching out to start her day. David suddenly remembered the previous night and didn't fancy another sneeze from her.

"HAH, what are YOU doing out of your shed?!" he barked suddenly. Daisy yelped and scurried back inside her berth.

"Huh. That's better," David said, more calmly. "Go on, No. 10. Get yourself cleaned up. Have a sense for how you look." Douglas' driver got in the cab and they went on their way with a start.

At this point, David was rather spent by all his conflict of Donald and Douglas. He decided he wanted to let it go and hold back for a while. So he went back home to be alone and gather himself together. After Emily had gotten cross with him that morning, he slowly began to feel something else coming to him. It seemed that he had hated Donald and Douglas mostly because of Emily being in the middle of their arguing, but as he took time to think more clearly to himself, he remembered that there was another reason he treated those brothers with contempt besides old wounds. Quite soon, David would come clean and confess something to Emily to give her a clear image of this whole matter, like she did with Thomas when he helped her back to the light. As for Emily, she was in for quite an unsettled night herself soon, but once David would tell her everything, his grudge upon Donald and Douglas would slowly begin to ease.

* * *

Yes, it's another Railway Series adaptation, and basically my only major contribution to this story, since, again, this is primarily Jeremy's story, just about anything involving David Rider is his. So yeah, I wanted to adapt "Buffer Bashing" and I thought this would be a good place for it. Next though, you should be prepared, cause things could get nasty. So, leave your thoughts and we'll see you tomorrow for the next chapter.


	3. Continuing Fragility

David's charade with Donald and Douglas had been going rather negatively. First he had seen out they worked together and arguing rather frequently. Then he had seen how they worked on their own, and they still managed to cause plenty of trouble. So much trouble, in fact, that David had locked Douglas in Daisy's shed for a night, only to be scolded by Emily to let him go. But now things would begin to change. David had some thoughts to gather, and Emily had a frightful night to endure ahead of her.

After Douglas had been let go and went to start another day, David had gone back home to gather himself together. Like Topham Hall was on the outskirts of Wellsworth, David had his own house on the outskirts of Ffarquhar. Not quite as big as Topham Hall, but still quite impressive. David spent most of the day thinking and wondering exactly why he hated Donald and Douglas so much, and he suddenly thought of something else that might have triggered such a grudge besides Emily's problem with the Vicarstown shipment. He decided to go and see if he could work something out with Emily.

He travelled down to Knapford Station, hoping to find Emily there. Instead, Henry was there. When he saw David come by, he seemed worried.

"Mr. Percival has been wondering where you were, David," he said nervously.

"Why?" asked David. Then suddenly…

"Mr. Rider!" a stern voice called. David turned and saw the Thin Controller walking out of the office. "You know the rules: Sir Topham Hatt reprimands engines for situations beyond their control! I am holding to that stature, but that also goes for people too! I do not fancy you stepping into situations that are not your business, including Donald and Douglas' troublesome incidents! After you left Knapford earlier today, I came by and Emily told me everything!"

David knew not to argue with a railway manager, regardless of who it was, so he spoke peaceably.

"With all due respect, Mr. Percival, I didn't harm Donald and Douglas, and I never will. I just held Douglas at those sheds to shake some sense into him after he had knocked Edward over. He didn't deserve a derailment, and as you know, my father was Emily's driver once. I just feel rather touchy about that matter of the Vicarstown shipment, and I just wanted to ensure safety for Emily and Edward, as well as-"

The Thin Controller raised his hand to stop the talking. He spoke sternly to David. "Engine driver's sons don't run railways. Until Sir Topham Hatt returns with Thomas, that's MY job. From now on, if you see Donald and Douglas causing trouble, you can tell me what they did, and I will handle it. YOU don't do anything!"

"I can't do nothing either," David replied. "I would never hold back if Emily, or Edward, or any other engine were in serious danger! I'd step in and help them in any way I could. I have friends here who I care for and want the best for."

The Thin Controller understood, but kept a serious tone. "It's good to help a friend, David, but that doesn't mean letting emotions cloud judgement, as it were, like you did when you arranged with Douglas' driver to have him locked up last night! Now…since you meant to protect Edward and Emily, since Douglas' driver agreed to your…idea last night, and since you are a good-natured person with good intentions, I will let this go…with a warning: if you have any thoughts of anything more serious than confining Donald or Douglas to a shed, I greatly advise you and urge you to STOP those thoughts immediately! Just tell me if anything happens on the railway, then nothing serious will happen with any of our engines, and you won't get into trouble. Am I clear, Mr. Rider?"

David thought for a moment then answered. "Transparently," he said sincerely. "I had actually decided to step away from Donald and Douglas' matter for a while anyway. I'm beginning to figure things out, which I hope will change things for the better."

"Good," the Thin Controller replied with a nod. "Off you go now."

"Good day, sir," said David as he left the station, then rode Bertie back to Ffarquhar. The Thin Controller managed to smile as he went back to work.

Later that evening, David was sitting by the fireplace in a velvet armchair in his living room, staring into the flames. The living room was big, with rustic wooden walls, emerald-green carpets a fine-looking desk, several paintings, a radio and two large bookcases. David turned on the radio beside him to see what the Sodor News was up to, and what he heard made him listen.

_**"…in other news, parts of the Main Line have seen quite a few shenanigans with No. 10 engine Douglas yesterday. After three days' worth of repairing a set of buffers his brother Donald had accidentally crushed, Douglas was seen splattered with red paint by the foreman after breaking the buffers all over again, and Mr. Percival had ordered him to take coal trucks along the line to refill the chutes, only for his train to derail at the base of Gordon's Hill. Following this accident, Edward was derailed by Douglas at Knapford Station before the No. 10 engine was confined in Arlesburgh Sheds for the night; an agreement reached by his driver and a friend of Emily's named David Rider, the son of her late original driver. Fortunately, David only wishes the best for Emily and his other friends, and Mr. Percival appears confident that things will get better for David and our Scottish brothers. Well, that's all for today. This is Sodor News signing off for tonight. Thank you for listening."**_

David took the radio into his hands. "Aha! Think you're pretty smart, don't you, huh?" he said coyly. "Broadcasting so many things that go wrong, and only little shrouds of good news to tell! I still gotta get that thought to Emily…but how to tell her?" David sighed as he put the radio down and turned it off. After a few minutes, as the fire went out, David heard a churning groan as he felt his stomach.

"I'm hungry," he said suddenly as he got up from his chair. "Can't think on an empty stomach. Gotta have protein. Gotta have kippers."

And David walked through his house, into the kitchen and fetched two frozen kippers from the freezer. He turned on the stove, heated up a frying pan and soon, he was frying the kippers up into a tasty fish supper. About an hour later, David had eaten a full supper, cleaned the kitchen, and returned to the living room to finalize his thoughts.

By the time the moon rose outside and the stars were sparkling beautifully, David thought of the best and only thing to do to help Emily fully understand his position on Donald and Douglas. He got up from his chair and collected all his trinkets from the Navy together. He put his naval cutlass and belt over his shoulder, pulled on his black boots and put the silver charm around his neck. Then, from the drawer in his desk, he took one other thing out and placed it on his sailing coat and stared into the mirror.

"This is who you really are, David," he said. "A strong, proud captain…and a truthful, honest friend, who thinks clearly and efficiently." Then he went outside, locked the house, and made his way slowly and peacefully through the night.

Meanwhile, Emily was at Tidmouth Sheds, feeling rather unsettled. Henry had told her about David's talk with the Thin Controller, and how David had decided to step away from Donald and Douglas for a while. While Emily was thankful to know that David made the choice himself, she still didn't know what would come next. She had not seen him for the rest of the day and had no idea of what he would do next. She suddenly looked over to Thomas' empty berth, almost asking him for help, but then felt sad again. After everything she had dealt with upon David's grudge, she was beginning to miss Thomas again and wish he was here to set some things clear for her new friend.

"Oh, Thomas," she whispered. "If only you could see how much David might need your approval of my brothers…" Then Emily's eyes filled with tears as she silently cried over Thomas' absence.

"I miss you so much, Tommy," she whispered sadly. "Please come home…" And Emily fell asleep unhappily. Since she did not know everything about David's talk with the Thin Controller, she did not yet know about his intentions that night. As such, she still had her own fears of how far he would go with her brother figures. Would he improve, or would he take very dark path? Less than an hour after she fell asleep, she began to dream…

* * *

_It was early morning at Arlesburgh Yard. Shortly, the sun would be rising. Daisy was alone in her shed, and the Fat Controller's car was driving away as David came walking by. He turned to the Fat Controller's car as it drove away._

_"Even he doesn't realize how dangerous those twins are. He didn't even send them away for attacking Sodor's angel, much less let me do it myself!" he complained as he approached a table he had set up outside the sheds. He was thinking about how to fix the springs in his bed, like he told Emily when he revealed his animosity to her brothers. On the table, he had a small crate containing the new springs and some paper to write out his plan to fix his bed. There were five big springs altogether. He took one of them out and suddenly noticed he had nothing to write with._

_"I'll have to sleep well to think clearly about those miscreants…but I'll need a pen," he said. And he went to the worker's shed to see if he could find one. Daisy opened her eyes and looked at the spring on the table._

_"Ooh, that spring looks lovely," she whispered. "I believe it would fit me very nicely!"_

_"Don't be silly, Daisy," said her driver. "Those belong to Captain David."_

_"Bother David! I'm highly-sprung as you plainly know," Daisy insisted. "And you remember what happened with me and Diesel? I might have never worked again without new springs. Please do it for me. It's for my own perfection. Please?"_

_Her driver gave into her plea and quietly walked over, took the spring and brought it back to Daisy._

_"Hide it," she whispered. "He might notice if we put it on now." So her driver hid the spring underneath her._

_And just in time too. David was coming back from the worker's shed with a pen he managed to find. As he thought aloud about the Scottish twins, he was just about to start writing the plan for his bed, when he suddenly noticed his table was missing something. He looked at Daisy, who only smiled innocently._

_"Did you take one of my springs?" he asked._

_"Mm-mm," Daisy said smoothly, batting her eyelashes at him._

_"Show me," David ordered._

_"Ladies don't steal," Daisy insisted. "Don't search underneath me, monsieur!" But David hastily checked where her springs were…and suddenly found his underneath her. He stood up again and shot a stern look at the diesel railcar._

_"These are NOT 'Daisy Springs'!" And he slammed the crate shut and went back to thinking out loud and writing out his bed plan. While he did this, Daisy's driver snuck out under the table to take more springs._

_"Let's see," David thought out loud. "Sir Topham's got the twins. I want the twins. Sir Topham won't give me the twins."_

_He suddenly heard the crate open and shut again. He frowned and slid the crate to his right side and continued to tinker with his plan._

_"If I could just find Sir Topham's weakspot, I could get him to tell me where Donald and Douglas are."_

_From under the table, Daisy's driver secretly lifted one side of the crate up and let it plop down again. David stopped and looked, thinking it had been raided again. He slid the crate back to the left, only for him to hear another open-and-shut sound. He stopped again and frowned impatiently. Quick as lightning, he swiped the crate to the middle and kept it shut with his arm._

_"But Sir Topham's only got one weak spot, and that IS Donald and Douglas."_

_This time, Daisy's driver slid David's extra paper over. David felt as though he had to get it. But no sooner he laid hold of the paper, then yet another open-and-shut sound hit his ears. This time, he smirked slightly, put the paper away and pretended to forget about the springs. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Daisy slowly sneaking out of her berth, toward the table._

_"Maybe if I stuck a muddy ditch, I would loosen his tongue and then…I GOT IT!" He suddenly lunged at Daisy and banged on her side, catching her by shock, and making her squeal._

_David chuckled and pretended to play sweet at first, then he suddenly became angry. "Got your buffer caught in the cookie jar, did you, heh? …Who do you think you're MESSING with, you dumb engine?!" he barked, poking Daisy in the nose. "MY mental facilities are HUNDREDS of what yours are, you pea-brain!"_

_With that, he took hold of his crate and opened it to find…nothing. Daisy scurried into her berth, whimpering frightfully._

_"Daisy…" David breathed shallowly, stepping towards her. He spoke quietly at first, then he drew his sword and unleashed his wrath, making Daisy shut her eyes. "I give you aluminum springs, I give you iron springs; Why, I'll even give you STEEL SPRINGS! BUT I WANT YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM MY-!"_

_David had raised his sword over his head to slash her, when he suddenly stopped right there and gaped as another thought of steel suddenly hit his mind…then, as the sun began to rise, a purplish glow appeared around David, making him seem ghostly demonic as he formed a huge, fiendish smile._

_"…The Steelworks! That's IT!" he whispered triumphantly. "THAT'S Sir Topham's weak spot!"_

* * *

Emily suddenly woke up with a gasp and looked around. She was still at Tidmouth Sheds, and it dawned on her that the Fat Controller was still out in the world, looking for Thomas. And she knew that David had no precise knowledge of the Mainland Steelworks or where they were.

"Oh dear…" she whimpered. "Thank goodness that was just a nightmare. But I do hope it never comes true!" Emily was too tired to think much about it and fell asleep again, only to start dreaming again…

* * *

_Douglas was rushing along the line in a panic, with a heady load of stone, with the trucks pushing him forward every second they could and making such a fuss. They thundered past several engines and missed several signals, barely missing some engines and level crossings, all the way to Brendam Docks. There, he saw Emily and David head on, who were now trapped against the chance of a collision._

_"Stop!" Douglas cried. Douglas' driver applied the brakes, but it didn't work. Emily cried out and waited to be smashed while David ran off to find cover, but suddenly, Douglas was switched over to the line beside Emily and crashed into another line of trucks, derailing him and his train of stone. Unfortunately, one of the stones hit David and knocked him out some distance from Emily._

_"David!" she yelped. "David! Wake up!"_

_Douglas heard Emily and gasped. "Jock! David's been hit! Is he alright?"_

_Douglas' driver, whose name was Jock, got out of Douglas and cautiously kneeled over David, nervous over what had just happened. He very gently took hold of David's hand to feel for any sense of consciousness…when suddenly…_

_"HAH!" David suddenly burst awake and seized Douglas' driver as he got back on his feet and raised his sword overhead. "I've had just about ENOUGH of your Scottish deceptions! THIS IS THE LAST STRAW!"_

_And David gave a vicious swipe of his sword, missing Jock as he fell down himself. David stood over him and aimed to stab him, only to miss again as Jock hastily ran and fetched the fireman's shovel from Douglas' cab and ran over to Cranky and began climbing up the series of ladders, followed closely by David. Jock climbed even higher, until he was on top of Cranky's crane arm. He seemed to be safe, but not for long. David just missed another slash at Jock, making him fall flat on his back, on top of Cranky's crane arm. David lunged up on top too and flailed his sword left and right as he had Jock cornered against the ledge of the crane arm. Jock was trapped with no choice but to defend himself, with only a shovel to fend off David's attacks. As David delivered each blow against the shovel, Jock held out for a minute or two, until David's sword pushed down, then swung the shovel right out of Jock's hand._

_Jock froze completely as David then aimed his blade right down and Jock, bound to run him through._

_"Dead men tell no tales," David sneered as he suddenly drove the blade downwards…_

* * *

Emily burst awake again. "Cranky!" she cried out before seeing she was at Tidmouth Sheds again and it was another nightmare. Emily began to feel rather scared.

"Heavens! What's happening to me?!" she wailed as she looked to the empty berth again. "Ohh…I must be even more fragile without Thomas here to comfort me! This isn't fair! Why can't I dream better things?!" And she fell asleep, desperately trying to dream something better, but with her worries about David, Donald and Douglas in her mind and without Thomas to assure her of such a matter, she found herself caught in a third nightmare…

* * *

_Emily found herself on a barren slope, in front of a big, forbidden-looking place…the Mainland Steelworks. She was standing upon the keep where the ladle trucks would be brought to be emptied._

_"Oh dear!" she gasped. "Where am I?"_

_"The Steelworks, lady!" said a voice. Emily looked down and saw a most unusual-looking engine. It was of course Theo, but Emily didn't know this._

_"You mustn't hang about here!" said Theo. "Hurricane and Frankie keep any engine who wonders into this place and they don't let them leave!"_

_"Well, you should escape too, little one!" said Emily._

_"Oh, not me," said Theo. "Me and my two other friends agreed to work here to help Thomas and James leave!"_

_"Really? Well, where's the way out?" asked Emily._

_"Along this line, through the yard and to the main gate! Go quickly!" urged Theo. Emily immediately went on her way through the yards as fast as she could, but just as she saw the gates, she suddenly stopped when she saw Donald and Douglas coming into the area, arguing once again._

_"We never would have gotten lost if you didnae always do what you want with choosing the right way!" Donald snapped._

_"Nae true!" Douglas snapped back. "You got us lost with you always pulling me past signals!"_

_"Nae true!" argued Donald. "Now, until we find the right way, I say we make ourselves useful at this place. It looks busy enough of both of us!"_

_Douglas chased after Donald through the gates, still arguing and not noticing Emily or anyone else in the area. But then, to the right of Emily's eye, she suddenly saw a diesel waiting just inside the Steelworks, with her name, showing "Frankie," on her side. Then she saw another big red engine, who was Hurricane, coming up behind her brothers, so he and Frankie could capture them from both ends._

_"DONALD, DOUGLAS! NO!" Emily screamed. "Stay away! It's a trap!"_

_But suddenly, Frankie thundered out from inside the Steelworks, head on for the twins, and Hurricane sped in from behind. Both engines suddenly had the twins locked together in their grasp to force into work._

_"Oh no! My brothers!" Emily wailed. But then she saw David jump out of Frankie and rejoice the victory._

_"I got them! I GOT THEM! Did you see that?! PERFECT catch! They're MINE! ALL MINE!" he cackled loudly._

_Frankie and Hurricane began to escort their prisoners inside the Steelworks. Emily suddenly burst out of hiding and tried to chase after the cavalcade, but before she could reach them, the Steelworks doors shut on her, leaving her unable to help her brothers and she began to cry in despair that she had failed the brother she loved so much. Inside the Steelworks, huge steel cages had already been made to encase over and engine to prevent them from escaping. Frankie and Hurricane uncouples from Donald and Douglas and moved away quickly. Then two of the big steel cages fell down upon the brothers, trapping them in their spot._

_"Someone help us!" they whistled together. But then someone banged the cage bars in front of them._

_"HAH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" David cackled menacingly. "There they are, Frankie. Just look at them. Two most valuable Caledonian engines, and with them working here day-in and day-out, Emily will be perfectly safe, and these Scotsmen will trouble her no more! He-he-he! I got what I want!"_

* * *

Emily suddenly woke up one more time, feeling most petrified now. She could feel her heart pounding hard within her and her throat had a painful lump of fear she couldn't swallow. As she panted frightfully, she looked at Thomas' berth once more and felt as though her boiler would burst. She couldn't hold it in anymore. She simply had to speak with David and stop these nightmares from having any chance of coming true. But before she could cross the turntable, she suddenly heard footsteps. She looked and saw David walking toward the shed. She saw he was wearing everything he was when she first met him. And he was walking rather quietly toward her.

"Emily…" he said calmly. "I've been thinking a lot lately…"

"Captain David Rider," Emily began furiously. "I'm talking first! I have been fearing and dreaming frightful and haunting nightmares about you attacking my brother figures, three times in a row now!"

Emily described every nightmare she had of David's attacks against Donald and Douglas in as much detail as she could to make sure she could get through to him. From the first one of him pondering his thoughts about weakspots and the twins' whereabouts, to the next one, in which he fought Douglas' driver on Cranky's arm, right up to the third one where he helped Frankie and Hurricane caught and imprisoned them at the Steelworks. The whole time Emily was describing those dreams, David's expression became more and more horrified until Emily ordered him yet again.

"By the souls of your father, Lawrence Rider and Thomas' sister Emma, you will NEVER harm Donald OR Douglas! NEVER! I will NOT allow you to do anything rash against them, or their crew!"

David was deeply shocked by everything he had just heard and sounded sad when he spoke. "Emily, I assure you, those were just nightmares, and they will stay nightmares. I would NEVER do anything of the sort. Not for all the good in this world would I ever do such things to Donald and Douglas! The mere thought of those nightmares sickens me! I assured you that I don't ever want to hurt them!"

Emily was relieved to see David's impression and honesty after so much fear she was dealt, but she still wanted one other questioned answered.

"Well, even if you don't wish to do any wrong-doing to them, I want you to confess everything, David! Why do you hold a grudge against my brother figures?!" she demanded.

David looked down for a moment, remembering what he had decided back at his home. He gathered it together and looked up at her again.

"Well, you see, Emily…that's why I came here tonight. I came to set everything clear for you. I've been thinking long and hard to myself all day. I've decided I am stepping away from my conflict with your brother figures for a while. I must admit, I felt as though I had to gather myself together. And after a whole day of thinking…I suddenly remembered that there's another reason I've felt such contempt for them…and I've come to tell you my own truth. Something that I went through that must have spawned my extreme desire to protect you. I'll tell you exactly what started this feeling within me…like you told Thomas what happened to you when he helped you become a sweet, kind engine again that night at Black Loch all those years ago."

"You…you will?" asked Emily.

David looked at his friend. "Yes, Emily. There's more to all of this than you may have thought. And now…you'll hear everything."

* * *

How about that then, huh? And yes there's a cliffhanger because we're cruel. Even then you only have to wait until tomorrow to find out what David is gonna say. And to those wondering why David is being such an asshole to Donald and Douglas, you'll get the answer next chapter. Other than that though, this is the last time he'll go after the twins. So, look forward to the next chapter dropping tomorrow.


	4. Navel Maneuvers

Emily stood there in her berth, looking at David. She was now going to hear everything that spawned his grudge against Donald and Douglas beyond her incident in the middle with them.

"Now, Emily. Before I talk about why I targeted Donald and Douglas besides your accident, it's important for you to know this story I'm going to tell you," said David. "First of all, you know very well of what Sailor John did here, don't you?"

Emily shuddered as she remembered what she had been through. "Oh, I certainly do, David. I remember hearing about him stealing the treasure Thomas and Marion found, then how Thomas chased him across the island, until that pirate lost the treasure and was imprisoned shortly afterwards…then one day, he broke out and wreaked havoc on this island. He arranged to have your father murdered on the express…then he caused all of Brendam Docks to go up in flames, captured me and Skiff, and nearly killed me and Thomas!"

"I know," David nodded. "And you may also know that he was a retired Navy member."

"I did know the basics of that, yes," said Emily. "But then he was kicked out for unknown reasons. Why would you know?"

"Well, Emily," David said a little nervously. "…the crazy thing is…I'm the reason Sailor John was kicked out of the Navy."

Emily's heart skipped a few beats as she popped her eyes. "What did you say?" she asked quickly.

"Sailor John was kicked out of the Navy, because of me," said David. "I don't how Sodor could never have learned that, but it's true."

"Oh...oh, my…I don't believe it!" Emily gasped. "You knew him too! And just how did you get him kicked out?"

"It was a naval maneuver of some sort that I performed when I discovered he was too dangerous to trust," said David. "Over my six years of service in the Navy, I gained a place as a sailor onboard an HMS Defender ship, mostly being involved in ocean patrol to ensure security on the water. I had performed gallantly and resourcefully ever since the beginning. I had started out as a recruit in brutal boot camp training, but through that, I became a proud, honourable sailor. My main duties consisted of checking for any suspicions on the sea and reporting on it to the captain and sergeant."

"I see," said Emily. "But where does your part with Sailor John come?"

"All in good time, Emily," said David. "While I didn't interact with Sailor John, I at least became aware of his appearance and personality. I could tell at little glance that he was a conniving and overly clever man…so clever that I felt as though he was up to personal interests that would all-too well interfere with orders from our superiors in the Navy. Five years into my service, I had come to learn that he had won over several some of his own comrades on his much smaller ship, an HMS Ranger, to silently take out our superiors, so he could get on top and bend some of the military rules in his favor. As the months in my fifth year passed, we noticed that more and more superior ranking Navy officers were disappearing with no explanation. I felt a little unsafe as I had little suspicions that Sailor John had something to do with it, until one night, only a few days before I left the Navy, I got curious."

"Yes?" said Emily.

"This is where I learned a plan that pirate was up to…and then when his pride crumbled," said David. "And this is what happened…"

* * *

It was a dark and mysterious night on the sea. The HMS Defender and Ranger were out on the sea. The stars were filling the sky overhead, but a few clouds were blocking the moon. David was standing on the deck of the Defender on guard duty, feeling rather concerned. He wondered if there was anything he could do to find out exactly why several Navy superiors had been reported dead or missing with so little explanation.

Suddenly, David's eye fell upon the HMS Ranger several hundred feet away from the Defender. He looked through a pair of binoculars and noticed the cabin lights were on. Sailor John was clearly not asleep. Perhaps he was plotting a scheme of sorts, without anyone else knowing. After silently losing several superiors, David decided not to let any secret details cause harm to his fellow comrades. Being sure to check that no one else was on deck to stop him, he quietly snuck out to the back of the Defender where some of the lifeboats were kept. He slowly lowered one of them down to the water and climbed down the rope, into the boat. Then he released the boat from the ropes and sneakily rowed out to the HMS Ranger to see what he could find out and spread to the Defender's crew in an attempt to stop anything unpleasant.

When he reached the Ranger, David tied the lifeboat off to the side of the deck and cautiously stepped onboard. He could hear faint voices coming from the cabin and snuck alongside the window to listen. There was Sailor John and four of his own sailors, sitting around a table and discussing something that made David's heart jump in his throat.

"We're so close, Johnny," said one of the sailors. "We could take the Defender right now!"

"So what are we waiting for? That's what I want to know," said another sailor.

"They're all asleep on-board that creaking raft! They don't suspect a thing! We take the ship!" the third sailor insisted.

"No! We must wait until morning," said Sailor John. "If we attacked them now, we'd be outnumbered quite quickly. We must attack from our own deck.

"But how? There's only five of us, against several dozen on that big ship!" said the second sailor.

"We have our own stash of weapons right here with us," said Sailor John. "Tomorrow, we'll attack by surprise while they're all on patrol duty…but it is vital that we attack the sergeant and captain first. Taking out the leader will discourage the others and make them feel lost, confused and terrified, leaving them utterly defenseless."

"Hmm. I like that, Johnny," said the first sailor.

Sailor John snickered gleefully. "We've been doing things quietly for quite a while now. Every Navy member we picked out every few nights, we killed in secret and sent them to the depths. It was a wise thing to do so the Defender crew would never suspect any foul play. They just assumed they fell overboard and drowned…but now, I'd fancy a more aggressive approach. We'll turn their worrying into immense fear and hopelessness. What do you all say?"

All four sailors laughed heartily. "Oh, yes. It would be a pleasure! Just tell us what to do, Johnny."

David listened as the men discussed their plan. As soon as the discussion was done, David walked quickly and silently back to his lifeboat, undid the rope and rowed hastily away. Fortunately, the clouds still covered the moon and hid him from being seen as he saw Sailor John come out of the cabin and look out to the horizon.

David returned to the Defender, got back onboard and dashed over to the captain's quarters. He knocked and opened the door. The sergeant and captain were at the wheel and were surprised to see David come in.

"Captain, sergeant!" David said. "I've just heard something horrific onboard the HMS Ranger!"

"How could you have been there, Soldier Rider?" asked the sergeant. "You were supposed to be on guard duty tonight! You are not to leave your post unless something suspicious happens onboard our ship here!"

David tried to explain what he had heard about Sailor John and his plan to launch an attack the next day, but the sergeant was not very keen on hearing what he thought was just a tall tale. David had left his post without orders and without leave.

"Soldier Rider, I don't know what you were doing away from your post, but you should not be eavesdropping on one of our own ships!" the sergeant snapped. "You went against your order to keep guard tonight! And for that, I'm afraid I'll have to place you on light duties for tomorrow, swabbing the deck."

"What? Sir, I found out something that Sailor John is up to!" said David. "He's the reason we've been losing a few Navy officers over the months! I heard it from his own mouth! He means to murder us!"

"Balderdash, Rider!" said the captain. "You had no orders or leave to abandon the ship, Sailor John is just a very clever man, and those officers were reported missing or drowned. There were no traces of foul play from anyone among us!"

"Captain, that's what Sailor John wants us to think! He is-!"

"ENOUGH!" the sergeant barked. "Now get back in the barracks! We'll expect you on deck tomorrow morning. The mop and bucket will be waiting for you."

David sighed and went below decks to the barracks, feeling rather dismayed. He expected to be given some gratitude and praise for informing his superiors and preparing them for a possible rebellion from Sailor John, but instead, he had been reprimanded and dismissed. All he could do was brace himself for whatever could come the next day…

* * *

At Tidmouth Sheds, Emily spoke up. "Goodness me, David. You were certainly had quite the initiative. While all the other soldiers followed the basic principles of how the Navy may work, you paid great attention to even the littlest details of what Sailor John could have been up to."

"I must say, Emily, I was very nervous that night," said David. "It's just a shame that the sergeant didn't believe me."

"Unfortunately, that's how the military can be," said Emily. "Their standards are very vivid and there are no exceptions beyond anything of that sort. So…is this where Sailor John was kicked out?"

"We're almost there, Emily," David winked as he continued…

* * *

The next morning, the ocean winds were heavy. White caps were springing up on the sea and hitting against the HMS Defender and Ranger's hulls rather noisily. Inside the Ranger, Sailor John had assembled his four men together, who were now heavily armed with rifles and pistols. They had decided the attack would carry out that afternoon. But Sailor John had no idea of the consequences about to befall him.

Onboard the Defender, the patrol duty was ongoing for just about everyone, except David, who was mopping the deck away as ordered by the sergeant. He was still fuming a little at how his little discovery only gave him a lecture on following orders.

"Never mind, Rider," said the corporal, who had a slightly more gentle approach toward the soldiers than the sergeant did. "It's just for today. You'll soon be back on security patrolling again. You've been given a great honour to work on this ship, as you know."

"Then why did my listening in on Sailor John's scheme get me a bunch of scolding instead of thanks and gratitude?" David asked annoyingly.

"This is the Navy after all," said the corporal. "Orders are meant to be followed precisely at all times. That's all I will say." And he left to check the other soldiers onboard. By that afternoon, David had finished the deck and was getting ready to join the rest of the patrol…when Sailor John assembled his men on the Ranger's deck.

"Make ready, boys," he ordered. His henchmen then took hold of a rifle, loaded it and walked out in a formation, awaiting Sailor John's next command. As they took aim, they suddenly saw the sergeant walking on deck and suddenly spot what was going on onboard the Ranger.

"Captain, look!" the sergeant exclaimed. The captain looked to the Ranger and saw all the men taking aim.

"David was speaking the truth! Why didn't we listen?!" the captain gasped.

Before either captain or sergeant could issue a warning to the Defender's crew, Sailor John suddenly sprung into attack.

"Kill them! Kill them both!" he suddenly yelled, and in that instant, all four henchmen's rifles went off wildly, spreading gunfire across the Defender's deck. The soldiers and sailors panicked and shouted as they ducked for cover. David was quick to hide below decks and find cover.

"Shoot that sergeant down!" Sailor John shouted.

As the sergeant ran across the deck and looked to the Ranger, he saw who launched the attack. "That's Sailor John! David was right! We must rally the rest of the crew to stop them!"

But as he began to run to the captain's quarters to radio the rest of the crew, Sailor John brought the Ranger right next to the Defender, drew a roll of dynamite from his jacket, lit it, and threw it as hard as he could, hitting the sergeant in the head. It didn't knock him out, but still hurt enough to knock him off his feet. He instantly fought to get up again and just started to seek cover when the dynamite suddenly exploded right by him, injuring his foot badly and burning his boot. Then suddenly, Sailor John suddenly drew a pistol from his jacket and fired off three shots, hitting the sergeant right on target.

The sergeant staggered and fell down again, feeling his heart beat faster and his strength fading very fast. He tried to breathe in, but his lungs were already losing strength. The captain heard the gunfire and rushed over to try and help the sergeant, only to be shot dead instantly by one of Sailor John's men.

"Lovely job, boys! We got them!" Sailor John said gleefully from the Ranger. And the pirate and his sailors raised their arms, rejoicing at their accomplishment.

On the Defender, all the sailors were now in panic, except David. He came running up to the sergeant and was immediately horrified at the sight of his dying form. He reached to hold his hand, when the sergeant suddenly grabbed David's shirt and pulled him close.

"It's all up to you now, Soldier Rider," the sergeant wheezed. "You're in charge of this HMS Defender now. Use your initiative to stop that pirate. It's the ship's only hope now. Please…save our soldiers...and…I'm…s-sorry."

And with that, the sergeant passed away. David was now in charge of the ship. He turned and saw all the sailors, and the corporal looking at him, depending solely on him. David slowly looked out to the water, thinking of anything he could do to stop Sailor John…when he suddenly saw his chance. He looked through his binoculars…and saw a huge whirlpool twisting and writhing violently about a mile away…but when he saw it, he immediately had the perfect idea to stop that pirate.

Being fluent in ocean legends, David was so impressed by what he saw, he mentioned a legend in that moment.

"King Neptune's Maelstrom," he said with a grin.

On the Ranger, Sailor John was basking in pride as his sailors cheered and shouted loudly, announcing their intellect and skill to attack the Defender and kill the sergeant and captain. All they had to do now was board the ship and round up their victims…when suddenly, Sailor John heard it.

"Oh, poor little Sailor John! You must be feeling left out on that little ship of yours!"

"Wait a minute…Stop!" Sailor John growled. His sailors went quiet while he drew a telescope out and looked to where the voice came from.

"Don't you see that you're impossibly outsized by this big beauty?" said the voice. "You've no chance against our big number of sailors, but unlike your sudden display, I be a compassionate sailor! Just surrender and you'll live."

"Who is saying that?! Show yourself! Where are you?!" Sailor John demanded. Then his telescope's view fell upon David, who was standing on the top deck of the Defender and pointing straight at Sailor John.

"Right, then! You surrender to me now, and I'll let you live!" David yelled. Sailor John jolted a little and looked through the telescope again.

"I shall let you live!" David boasted before hoisting the Defender's Union Jack.

Sailor John snapped the telescope shut, rather offended, and turned to his men, demanding to give chase immediately. David was quick to reach the captain's quarters, take control of the Defender and turn the throttle to full speed, making the ship tear swiftly through the water, on towards the whirlpool. Sailor John immediately followed the same action and accelerated the Ranger as fast as it would go. Both ships were soon cutting like shark fins through the water, on towards David's target to stop Sailor John.

"David, what in the name of her majesty are you doing?!" exclaimed the sailors.

"Saving all of you, of course! Just trust me!" David shouted down. "I know what I'm doing!"

Ten minutes into pursuit, Sailor John was standing solidly at the front of the Ranger, keeping his eye on David. "Follow him, men!" he demanded.

At this moment, the Defender was close to the whirlpool and David signaled all the men on deck to hold onto something.

"We are set for a Naval Maneuver!" David ordered. "Hold tight, lads!"

All men on deck held onto something to keep stable. Then David got on the ship's radio and alerted everyone below decks.

"Navel maneuver! Hold tight down there!" he ordered. Then he held onto the ship's wheel and waited for the perfect moment.

"HARD TO PORT!" he suddenly yelled, and turned the ship's wheel as hard as he could to the left. The HMS Defender slowly turned left, churning up a mass of roaring waves beside it. The turning ship obscured Sailor John from seeing the large whirlpool while David steered around it. About half a minute later, as David passed the whirlpool, he called another motion.

"HARD TO STARBOARD!" he yelled. And he turned sharply to the right. The sudden surge of water intensified the whirlpool as the Defender roared past it…now Sailor John could see what was ahead of him.

"Whirlpool, mates!" he exclaimed. He scrambled to the wheel to swerve away, but it was too late. The whirlpool's currents had already gotten hold of the small HMS Ranger and began to slowly turn it around in circles. As Sailor John desperately yanked the wheel left and right, he looked over to the Defender and saw David walking proudly on the deck, smirking smugly to the pirate.

Then the whirlpool began to pull the Ranger downwards. Sailor John and all his sailors panicked and screamed in horror as water began to splash heavily over the deck. Suddenly, the Ranger tipped enough to send the sailors falling off the deck and being sucked down the whirlpool. Then Sailor John was washed overboard and fell into the sea, struggling to hold his breath and fighting desperately to swim against the whirlpools currents. But suddenly, the pressure pulling Sailor John downwards suddenly stopped and spewed him back up to the surface. As he fought to stay afloat, he suddenly realized that the whirlpool had suddenly dissipated. But the HMS Ranger and all his sailors were lost.

David sailed the Defender back to the military harbour base and made haste to find the general and inform him of what had happened. When the general heard the news, he left immediately to be flown by helicopter to the scene of destruction. When Sailor John was found on a piece of the Ranger's deck and brought back and held in a separate room, it took a very long time, but David told the general everything that had happened before during and after the attack, from him listening in on Sailor John's plan, right up to the naval maneuver he had performed to stop him. The general, in turn listened to everything, and was very proud of David's accomplishments.

Over the next two days, the Navy investigated Sailor John's actions and David's explanations, becoming very angry with Sailor John's deception and trickery within the Navy. By the third morning, the general sentenced Sailor John to be kicked out of the Navy in disgrace, threatening to have him arrested if he ever tried to sneak back in again.

"You silently deceived us all, killed many valuable officers of ours, launched an attack on the Defender, and killed its captain and sergeant, losing one of our ships immediately afterwards!" the general roared. "As of this moment, you are hereby expelled from the British Navy, Sailor John! If you ever try to show your face amongst us again, you will be dashed behind bars within the hour!"

Outside, by the harbour, David watched as Sailor John was taken away after being stripped of all his positions in the Navy. He was now feeling a great sense of accomplishment. He was just about to return to resume his patrolling duties and began to walk to the Defender's dock, when out of the corner of his eye, he saw some of the Defender's crew standing before him in a group. When he looked, he saw a table behind the group, and the corporal was holding something David was most certainly not expecting. A naval cutlass with a silver guard and gold lining on the handle.

"What's all this?" David asked.

The corporal placed the sword on the table. "Tribute…sir."

David stood there, enthralled. Presently, another soldier stepped up and placed a shiny pair of black boots next to the sword. Then another one placed a silver chain with two silver charms, an angel and a sailboat on the table.

David stifled a laugh as he admired the silver charm. "Ooh," he uttered impressively, as something more special was placed on the table. A medal of honour with a crimson ribbon.

Then the general came from behind and touched David's shoulder.

"Come with me, good sir," he said. "There is one more thing for you." And David escorted across the harbour, right to the last dock.

"For you…Captain David Rider," said the general, gesturing his hand outwards. David looked…and there was a big, beautiful emerald-green ship, with emerald sails. When he saw it, a new feeling came over him. Something awoke within him. He wanted a life outside the Navy that would allow him to explore and let him lead his own life. It was then that David decided to leave the Navy and pursue this newfound calling within him. The general and the rest of the Navy was sad to see him leave, but felt as though choosing his own life could also be a tribute in some way or other.

In a few more days' time, David had arranged to end his contract with the Navy and start his own offer to perform goods deliveries between England and Scotland onboard his new ship, with his very own crew to help him sail the ship.

"Captain Rider," said the general. "Before you leave and start this new life of yours…what do you think you'll name this ship? As a way for you to remember us, and your valiant reputation among us, I thought of engraving a name on it for you."

David looked at his ship for a minute or two, then decided. "I shall name her…the Sea Emperor."

The general smiled and arranged for a building crew to carve that name onto a wooden emerald plaque and place it on the back of the ship. And then at long last, David assembled his own crew onboard the Sea Emperor, took hold of the wheel, and when the wind began to blow again, he was on his way to start a different life at sea…

* * *

In her berth at Tidmouth Sheds, Emily stood there, breathing deeply as she comprehended everything she had just heard from her friend.

"And there you have it, Emily," said David. "That's how I became who I am now…and how I eventually came to live here after Sailor John's final defeat."

"Wow…" Emily breathed. "So this is the full and true story of my original driver's son. Absolutely amazing!"

"Thank you. And just between you and me, Emily," said David. "As much as I wanted to run my own life back then, another big reason I went to transporting goods with the Sea Emperor over the next few years was so Sailor John would never suspect me in the Navy in any way, in case he ever tried to slip his way back in…and it seems he never did suspect me since he came to hide here on Sodor afterwards."

Then Emily suddenly noticed. After such a big story, David had still not yet answered her question about his grudge upon Donald and Douglas.

"But David…I'm confused," said Emily. "That was an amazing story, but what has any of that got to do with your anger against Donald and Douglas?"

David suddenly looked a little guilty. He stepped closer to Emily and touched her buffer. "Well, here is the answer to your question, Emily. There is another reason why I treat them with contempt besides your awful accident that winter. I treated them coldly in an attempt to protect you from any more harm…because I feel somewhat responsible for everything Sailor John had done here upon his escape from prison."

Emily was most confused. "Why in the world would you feel responsible for that?"

"Well, my exposing his actions to the general is what got him kicked out of the Navy…which led to him coming to Sodor and stealing the treasure, which led to his first imprisonment. But then he eventually escaped and almost destroyed this railway and all that it meant. I feel as though my defeating him back then somehow led to the havoc Sodor faced…and the perils you and Thomas faced against him, and in feeling responsible for all of that, I wanted to protect you to the best of my ability, not just because you're my father's engine…but I wanted to somehow apologize for indirectly causing Sailor John to do what he did here. I wanted to make up for his escape, feeling as though I may have played a very loose part in all the chaos that happened here just before I moved here."

Emily was rather surprised at what she had just heard. It wasn't just anger for her accident that David had been feeling that made him go to certain extremes for her happiness and safety. It was also guilt and shame over something he felt he had caused in some way. As she looked at David, she could see him looking embarrassed, ashamed and a little scared. But when he heard her speak, he looked up and saw her looking very caring and gentle.

"David…you have nothing to feel responsible for, or guilty over when it comes to Sailor John. He was a dangerous man anyway, and who knows what would have happened if you didn't expose his actions? What if he became too powerful in the Navy? Perhaps he needed to be thwarted back then…as it did eventually lead to his final defeat and imprisonment here. He must have wanted to pursue a pirate's life in desperation, making him covet treasure so much…then his first imprisonment here must have driven him to untameable revenge."

"You…you don't think it's my fault?" David asked shakily. "Because that's why I went so far just for your sake. I felt like I was a tiny cause of what you went through after father died!"

"In my heart, you are not at fault for any of that, David," said Emily. "It was all Sailor John and the flaws of the Sodor Police Department at the time that caused all the drama on Sodor. Since Sailor John never saw you again, perhaps he forgot about you and focused more on what happened to him here."

"So…I don't need to make up for his escape?" David asked.

"No," Emily smiled. "If anything, you might have been the key to him being truly defeated by Thomas' courage and my resilience to protect my friends during that time."

This made David very happy. All this time, he had been carrying guilt over something Emily considered him innocent of. To hear such assurance from his father's engine gave him a brand new strength. He felt as though he could hold completely true to his promise this time.

"You have rekindled new confidence in me, Emily," he said. "I now feel like an even better man than I did upon becoming my own captain of my own ship. As such, I solely promise you this: I may not like Donald and Douglas yet…but I will not target them ever again. If anything happens by their doing, I will do what I can to help you and Mr. Percival handle it responsibly and properly."

"That is wonderful to hear, David," said Emily. "I think we now fully understand each other now. I am very thankful that you told me everything tonight, since it allowed me to help you feel more confident in yourself." Then Emily yawned sleepily. It had been quite a night for her. Three nightmares, followed by a story that set everything clear that same night.

"Well, you seem sleepy, Emily," said David.

"I am," Emily said as she slowly reversed inside her berth. David followed her inside and shut the berth's doors.

"Well, Emily…now that you know the truth…and make sure you don't have any more nightmares, why don't I sleep here with you for tonight?" he offered. "It's warm in these sheds, I haven't had a chance to fix my bed springs yet, and I can use my sailing coat as a pillow until tomorrow."

Emily looked down at David. "Well…where will you sleep then?" she said, giggling lightly.

David smiled and climbed onto her running plate. "Right with you, so you can feel I'm here. I'll be comfortable as long as you're comfortable." And he kissed Emily's cheek. Emily blushed pink and giggled again.

"Aww, David," she said. "You're so, so sweet. I'd be happy to know you're here with me tonight." In that moment, Emily suddenly got an idea and felt her boiler bubble gleefully. "And…since you're confident enough to keep your promise this time, and for setting everything clear for me…I think you deserve a present."

"What's that, Emily?" asked David.

Emily smiled sweetly at David. "Just kneel down a little, please," she said softly. David did so, then Emily puckered her lips and gave David the biggest kiss he'd ever get, rather literally. Her beautiful, soft lips touched over his entire cheek and she very, very gently smooched her lips as she kissed him.

When she let go, David suddenly stepped down, looking rather pink in the face himself, with shaky knees and a big smile on his face.

"Well? How was that, dear?" Emily asked in a silky voice. David held his big smile, and suddenly fell over in a faint.

"Huh? David?" Emily asked. A moment later, David suddenly got up.

"Just having a little fun. Really, that was more than I deserve, Emily," he laughed as he removed his sailing coat and folded it up into a small pile on Emily's running-plate. He climbed up again and lay down across her running plate, looking up into her eyes once more.

"Sleep tight, David," Emily smiled. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Sodor's beautiful emerald angel," David smiled back as he fell asleep on Emily's running plate. Emily giggled once more and fell asleep peacefully with David. And so David had come clean with his true feelings about his grudge, and Emily now fully understood why he felt the way he did. But it wasn't over yet. Eventually, a rather hot day would come along for David and someone else. Along with a hot day, a perilous and adventurous event would come along for David that would give him another step towards letting go of his grudge.

* * *

Exciting wasn't it? This is how David became his own man of the sea and how Sailor John was kicked out prior to SLOTLT. Jeremy really wanted to go all out with this story, so he came up with his own version of Sailor John's backstory. Only two chapters left guys, David isn't going after Donald and Douglas anymore, but there's still a lot left. So, until tomorrow, tell us what you thought of this chapter and we'll see you tomorrow with the penultimate chapter.


	5. Out-Shark Motor

After a rather exciting and unexpected story about David's core reasons of contempt upon Donald and Douglas, and how he became who he was, it seemed that Emily saw on close enough terms with each other again. After she had assured him that he was no bad cause of what Sailor John had done, David now felt as though he could hold to his promise not to go after her brother figures, in spite of his ongoing displeasure for them anyway.

Several days passed, and Spring was proving to be quite warm. It was almost April. But then came a rather hot day, even for Spring. It wasn't quite summer weather, but the sun was very, very bright and crisp, beaming down immensely on the island. That afternoon, David was riding in Emily's cab, still wearing his sword, but so as not to get overheated, he had removed his sailing coat and put on a vest instead. Earlier that day when he saw her at Knapford Station, she was worried. When David inquired to why, she told him that Skiff and Captain Joe were supposed to be placing buoys in the far reaches of water at Arlesburgh Harbour. But Captain Joe had underestimated the hot weather and was dressed a little too warmly for the heat, and while he was busy gathering the buoys together, he suddenly became dizzy and nauseous with heat exhaustion. As such, David decided to ride over and see if everything was alright.

"I just hope he isn't too sick, David!" worried Emily. "And Skiff must be disappointed."

"We'll see, Emily," said David. "I'm sure it isn't too serious."

When Emily arrived at Arlesburgh, David got down from her cab and while she set off to help Duck with some of his work, David ran through the village until he found the Arlesburgh Manager.

"Sir?" David asked. "How is Captain Joe? Is he alright? Emily told me what happened."

"He's rather ill after falling to heat exhaustion, David," said the manager. "But we've taken him somewhere cool to watch over him and give him water. He'll be alright, but unfortunately, Skiff doesn't have a captain to help him place the buoys out on the water."

Suddenly, this gave David an idea. Being a captain himself, perhaps he could prove helpful and get to know Skiff. "Actually, sir…I'd like to meet Skiff. Where is he?"

"Oh, of course, David," said the manager as he pointed ahead. "His shed is right over there."

David nodded and went over to see the Railboat. When he arrived, he opened the shed and could see Skiff looking a little miserable. He had been looking forward to a day with Captain Joe, and was now rather worried after his sudden illness. David decided to break the silence and have introductions.

"Hello," he said.

"Oh. Who are you, sir?" asked Skiff.

"I'm David Rider. Captain of the Sea Emperor, and son of Emily's first driver. And I assume you're Skiff the Railboat?"

"Oh, yes sir," Skiff said cheerfully.

"I heard that your captain suddenly took ill from the heat, Skiff," said David. "So I came down to see if everything was alright."

"Well, that's very noble of you, David…but I was so looking forward to having a day on the water again," Skiff said with disappointment.

"Hmm…what if I help you, Skiff?" David offered. "I am a captain myself after all. I could sail you out there and place the buoys wherever needed."

"Really? I'd like that, David. Thank you!" Skiff smiled. Just then, David heard a voice from behind him. "Hold on, David."

David turned around and saw the manager, and to his surprise, and underlying chagrin, Douglas' driver.

"Placing those buoys can't be done alone," said the manager. "Especially on this crisp, bright day under a beaming sun. But you're in luck. Douglas doesn't have any work today, so I thought his driver here, Jock, could assist you. Now you won't tire yourself too much out there."

David felt flickers of his nightmare coming back to him. He knew that if Jock had spoken up to Douglas and urged him not to do anything silly, Emily probably wouldn't have had her accident. But instead, he had let Donald and Douglas swap back both times that day. But all the same, David didn't want to get overheated himself on the sea, so he reluctantly agreed.

"Very well. Thank you, sir," he said to the manager, neutrally. Jock could see David was not very keen on this team-up. But they had a job to do.

And so, David and Jock gathered all the buoys and quite a large collection of ropes and loaded them onto Skiff. It wasn't too heavy for Skiff, but it left a bit if a squeeze for two men. But they still got in and rode Skiff down the pier, into the sea.

For now, the winds were considerable and Skiff was able to sail fairly across the water, until he called to stop when he was far out enough to start placing the buoys. David didn't bother talking to Jock, so as not to reopen any unnecessary wounds of grudge, but as they tied a few buoys together and spread them out in a line on the water, David decided to talk more with Skiff.

"So, Skiff. I hear you give children rail tours when you're not on the water," he said.

"Oh, I do, David," Skiff answered. "It's so much better than when Sailor John was in charge of me."

"Ohh…was he?" David asked.

"Yes. I may have been his boat, but I hated every moment of it. He was so mean to me, and I would not let him destroy Thomas while he chased us with the treasure. So I helped Thomas and made that pirate lose the treasure."

"You are brave, Skiff," stated David. "And I think you're a very fine boat."

"Thank you, David," said Skiff. "I think you're a fine captain yourself."

Suddenly, Jock spoke up. "What about me? Isn't there anything you have to say, David?"

"About what?" David asked.

"About locking Douglas in Daisy's shed that night," said Jock. "I may have agreed with you to have that happen, but I didn't really want to!"

"Don't you start arguing too, like Donald and your engine do rather frequently," David said obstinately. "We have a job to do, and I don't want to hang around out here for too long."

This made Jock go quiet and resume helping David. They continued tying buoys together and lining them up on the water for quite a while. Every once in a while, they sailed Skiff a few yards along the channel to extend the line of buoys until it would be complete. But the heat was also becoming a little difficult to ignore as both men kept wiping their foreheads of sweat every few minutes.

From the railway, Emily and Duck were working together, and as they passed the pier, Emily saw Skiff, David and Jock. She wondered exactly what would happen between them as she and Duck passed by and continued their work.

Forty minutes passed, and almost all the buoys were set in one long line on the water. David and Jock didn't notice, but the wind had also calmed down a lot. There was almost no breeze.

"Well, just a few more and we'll be good to go," said David. "It's getting rather hot, even for me."

"I'll say!" Jock grumbled as he wiped his forehead of plenty of sweat. But then, something eerie happened. As Skiff stared out on the big, wide horizon of the sea, to his shock and worry, he saw a fin cut above the water and slice through the water before sinking again.

"Oh! Oh! Uh…David? Jock? I…I just saw something…" he shuddered.

"What was it, Skiff?" asked Jock.

"Mmm...I don't wish to alarm you, but it was…a shark's fin!" Skiff said shakily.

David and Jock stopped where they were and froze for a few seconds. Sharks? They wondered frantically what this could mean and what to do. Then it dawned upon David.

"Skiff…is that why you and Captain Joe were told to place the buoys out here? To mark the area where sharks could be?" he asked.

"Yes," said Skiff. "It was to mark where their deep range was, but I didn't think there'd be any out in this area. Captain Joe and I have never seen any before, at least not around here…but we've placed plenty of buoys out here already. I say we get back to land as quickly as we can!"

"Uh…one problem, Skiff," said David. "There's barely any wind. Your sail would never get us back quickly. We'll have to paddle for it."

"Oh dear!" Skiff worried. "Well, please, you two! Start paddling now! I don't want this to become ugly!"

David and Jock forgot about the remaining buoys, both grabbed an oar and began rowing feverishly away from the line they created. David thought his mind was playing tricks on him, but it felt as though he heard more ripples coming from behind them. It made him fear that perhaps any sharks out there would be drawn to their activity. Jock was feeling edgy too, but he was also feeling very hot after working for forty minutes under the bright sun directly above them. As such, he began to get a little over nervous. David sensed this and felt nervous too, wanting to get back to shore before danger could befall them.

"We've got to get back there, and quickly!" he said urgently. "It would be dangerous to get surrounded by a hungry shark…or even more than just one!"

"Don't talk about it!" Jock exclaimed. "Just get us ashore!"

But suddenly, Jock rowed a little too hard and his oar slipped out of his hand and out of reach.

"No! No!" Jock huffed angrily. "They'll surely get us now!"

"Keep rowing, Jock!" David urged. "Just hand paddle yourself! Faster, faster! Come on! TRY!"

But by now, Jock was rather hot and cranky from the crisp, bright sun. In his crankiness, he wasn't thinking very professionally now.

"No! That's it!" he suddenly snapped and kicked the remaining buoys. "I'm swimming the rest of the way! You're being too pushy, and Donald and Douglas will need me anyway!"

As Jock prepared to jump in, David stood up angrily. "You would leave me for two stubborn brothers who derailed Sodor's queen?!"

"Yes!" Jock stubbornly answered.

David gaped for a moment, then glowered. "You Scotsmen are all alike."

Jock pouted his lips stubbornly and turned to jump off of Skiff. But just as he began to lean out, a big, gaping pair of jaws came surging upwards with a huge snap! David seized Jock and pulled him back just in time. Then in an instant, another pair of jaws splashed up from behind Skiff and snapped viciously at David.

"Shark!" David squawked. He and Jock stood up in Skiff and looked around. There were two blue sharks, big and sleek, circling Skiff now. Before either man could speak or think of something to do, the two sharks began jumping up from the water, snapping at both men. As Jock and David constantly stepped every which way, Skiff kept rocking left and right.

"Don't eat me! Don't eat me!" Skiff yelped out loud in his fear.

David suddenly drew his sword and when one of the sharks lurched up again, he gave it a clean slash along its side, drawing a line of blood as it flailed back into the water. But when the other shark lunged upward, Jock got such a shock, he fell overboard and into the water. David could see the silhouette of the shark under the surface soaring upwards toward Douglas' driver.

"JOCK!" David shrieked as he reached out to Jock. Jock immediately took his hand and got helped back onboard.

At that moment, Emily had finished her work and was coming along the pier again, when she heard David's shout. She looked out and gasped. As she huffed down to the pier then stopped, she could see the sharks jumping up around Skiff and just missing both men as David tried fending them off.

"David! Skiff! Oh NOOO!" she wailed as she watched helplessly at the horrific scene.

Onboard Skiff, David prepared to deliver another attack. The shark he had slashed lunged up again and opened its mouth to try and eat Jock, but David stepped over, drew his arm back, then shot it forward, stabbing the shark in its set of teeth, making sure to pull out immediately so as not to lose his sword. But it seemed that this only made the shark attack even more viciously, as the smell and taste of even its own blood was known to drive any sharks' feeding frenzy.

"Stop that! That's only making it angry, and hungrier!" Jock panicked. "We have to distract them. It's out best chance." He found a spare life vest and tossed it out and away from Skiff, knowing the sharks would view it as prey. And indeed, the sharks lunged away from Skiff and began attacking the life vest.

"Now!" Jock shouted as he jumped out and began swimming away furiously to reach the pier before it was too late. David still didn't feel safe swimming the rest of the way. He struggled to think of something safer and more efficient, when it suddenly hit him. Being a former Navy member, of course he had been trained on how to tie ropes for boats and tying knots with rings in them to tighten around a dock. This gave him a rather resourceful idea. Maybe he could latch a rope to one of the sharks' fins and ride it to shore.

While the sharks kept attacking the life vest, David worked quickly to gather the rest of the spare rope from the extra buoys together. He quickly made a knot with a wide ring at the end in the rope, and just in time, as the sharks began swimming back to Skiff. But just as one of them was passing by, David swung the rope out, looping it onto the shark's dorsal fin. Then David pulled on the rope, tightening the ring rather tightly on the shark's fin.

The shark suddenly felt an urge of panic and began rushing away from Skiff, toward shore…and pulling David and Skiff along at a terrific speed.

"Jock!" David called as the shark pulled Skiff unevenly, but swiftly through the water, and towards the pier.

"Whoa! Goodness!" Skiff exclaimed.

Suddenly, David found it rather fun, as if he were using a different sort of motor, and laughed heartily as the shark and Skiff cut through the water. He latched the rope onto one of Skiff's seats and held onto it to help steer the shark. In less than a minute, the shark was approaching Jock, but just in time, David gave the rope strong yank to the right, steering the shark away from Jock. David quickly reached out, grabbed hold of Jock and hauled him back on board. As they neared the pier, David pulled the rope a little more to the left to steer the shark out into open water. As the shark turned, David drew his sword again and cut the rope loose. Then he resheathed his sword and jumped out of Skiff. To his relief, he was able to stand up by now as he and Jock pulled Skiff ashore to the rail ramp and back on his set of wheels while the shark soared back out to open water.

Just then, Emily whistled in from behind. "I'll help, Skiff," she said.

David latched Skiff's rope to Emily's front coupling and she helped pull him back up the pier. After that, the Arlesburgh manager came running out with a towel and placed around Jock's shoulders.

"Well, you're a pair of troopers!" said the manager. "It's a good thing you got that shark to help you, David. Captain Joe is beginning to feel better too."

"We'll be alright now, sir," said David. While the manager left to check on Captain Joe again, Emily turned to the two men.

"Good Heavens, you two!" she gasped. "I saw everything that happened out there! Sharks! I never imagined! I'm so, SO happy, you're both alright!"

"They came at us very suddenly, Emily," panted Skiff. "I saw a fin moving through the water just as we were finishing placing the buoys out there! And as we tried rowing back to shore, that's when it all began. But he was very smart to do what he did!"

"Cinders and Ashes, I know!" Emily beamed. "That was fascinating, David! Fighting off those sharks…and then turning one of them into a motor and riding back to shore…and yet, still letting it go free!"

"It's respecting life of the sea, Emily," said David. "And don't worry about the other shark I attacked. Their teeth are always growing back upon falling out, and the slash it dealt wasn't anywhere vital."

"Oh, my! He was so brave, Emily!" said Jock. "I thought of distracting the sharks with a life vest for them to attack, but I swam for it. If it weren't for David's 'out-shark motor,' as I can call it, I probably would have been fish bait!"

Emily beamed. "Well, either way, that was exciting, frightening, and thrilling all at once to witness…and you saved Skiff and Douglas' driver!"

"I did it, Emily!" David rejoiced as he jumped on her running plate and gave her a hug.

"Hooray! Oh, David! David, you're wonderful! Ho-ho!" Emily cheered, whistling happily.

After David stepped down again, Jock spoke up again.

"Hey, David…thanks," he smiled, reaching his hand out. David saw this and suddenly became calm and dignified. He reached out too and shook Jock's hand.

"What you did for me just now has assured me that perhaps we can agree to positive terms," said Jock. "I am in your debt, Captain David."

"Good, that's settled," David replied.

It had been quite a perilous day for David, Jock, Skiff and even for Emily. After what had happened on this day, David now felt fit to respect Jock. This would be one event neither one of them would ever forget. David's dislike of Donald and Douglas was still lingering within him, but there was just one more thing to be done to settle that issue once and for all. Briefly, he would have one more negative phase that would come and go for him and some of the engines, but then after that, something would happen that would make David's hope of things changing for the better come true.

* * *

Only one more chapter left guys. Things are gonna settle down between David and the twins, so look forward to it. Also, yes, blue sharks have been sighted in UK waters so this all works outs. Tell us what you thought and join us tomorrow for the final chapter.


	6. Newfound Companionship

David Rider was having quite the experience with the grudge he held against Donald and Douglas. His latest experience included a rather frightful event going up against two blue sharks out in the Arlesburgh Harbour bay while he and Jock were placing buoys across the water with Skiff, and David had performed a rather resourceful maneuver by improvising a motor out of one of the sharks to ride back to the pier and save Jock from being eaten. Upon this, David and Jock agreed to positive terms and pledged respect and friendship to one another.

But David still needed to get the clear truth about Donald and Douglas besides everything he thought and was told by Emily. Three days after his shark shenanigan with Jock and Skiff, David found himself being caught up in thoughts with Donald and Douglas again. Over those three days, nothing bad had happened with them or the other engines, but when he saw other engines talking to each other, they sometimes mentioned how Donald and Douglas were wonderful members of the railway, that they were practical, peppery and proud, and always working hard.

Hearing such upbeat talk about those engines seemed rather hypocritical to David, considering the faults they did have over the years. He knew all-too well of their incidents before Emily's, since he had read about them in storybooks like many children in England. And as such, it gave him another sense of conflict to overcome. One which would briefly turn him into a rather quarrelsome kind, like Donald and Douglas were.

On the fourth morning, when Emily arrived at Knapford Station to start her day, she saw David on the platform, looking unsettled again. Emily sighed and prepared for more complaining.

"What's wrong now, David?" she asked.

David looked at her. "Nothing serious, Emily," he said. "As you know, I still don't like Donald and Douglas for what they did to you, accidentally or not. And the most I've been hearing whenever the other engines talk about them is everything that sounds promising and useful about them."

"So? What's wrong with that?" asked Emily.

"It sounds very hypocritical to me," said David. "It's not like they were perfect engines all the time. It's like the engines treat their misdeeds as the elephant in the room. As if they consciously ignore it, even though they are fully aware of all those mishaps."

"They're admiring what good talents they have when they're really useful, David," said Emily. "I am happy that you aren't going after my brothers anymore. But you really need to let go of your contempt towards them. It doesn't just make them uncomfortable. It's making you feel anger you don't deserve to feel. You really would be much happier if you found out the entire truth from them face to face. As I told you when this all started, I strongly urge you to give them another chance and listen to everything that truly happened."

David frowned. "And how do I know they won't start arguing even then?! I may not feel any need to lash out at them anymore, but I also don't feel any enthusiasm or trust in talking to them and believing in what they say. And I don't like hearing others talking about how they're so really useful when that wasn't exactly their precise reputation. I don't think I could come to terms with them, even if I wanted to."

And he got up and left the station. Emily sighed to herself as she gathered her train and went on her way.

Down the line, Henry was struggling with a heavy load of tar wagons. The problem wasn't his firebox or coal. But his water was running low and not making enough steam. His driver had stopped the train at the base of Gordon's Hill and called for help.

"Oh dear," said Henry. "This won't do. With low water, I can't get these wagons over the hill. This will need two engines…I need Donald and Douglas." Only a few seconds after he had said that, another voice followed beside his line.

"You don't need Donald and Douglas." It was David, sounding almost amused despite the frown he had on his face.

"What? But David, they can help me," said Henry.

"Odds are they're just going to argue endlessly over who should do what. If you really need help, Henry, why not trust Hiro instead? He worked very nicely with you even when you both took on a poor set of coal! He's quite a strong engine…and much more level-headed than either of those fools!"

"As a matter of fact, David, Donald and Douglas are the ones who helped me out of the snow just before Percy spoke up for them to stay here! I think you should-"

"You think what? I'm going to warm up to two arguing Scotsmen who seldom think with much reason? What did you think was going to happen between me and them? You know of their misdeeds, but don't acknowledge them as a warning! Do you think I dislike those brothers for no reason at all? Don't trust them to help you," David glowered as he walked off again.

"I can't go on without their help!" Henry called after him. Soon enough, Donald and Douglas came along and managed to help Henry over the hill to the next water tower, and Henry was able to keep going, but he wasn't very cheerful about David's stubborn talk. He had not seen David like this before.

Later, David was walking along the road again until he reached Wellsworth Station. Edward was on passenger duties and was waiting for his green flag when David came by, still looking unhappy. Edward saw this and wondered what was wrong.

"David, what's wrong? You don't seem very chipper."

"I'm still thinking about Donald and Douglas," David replied gruffly. "And all their misdeeds. Everyone says they're wonderful engines, and yet there are plenty of issues they have spawned over the years that everyone seems to overlook!"

"Honestly!" said Edward. "Are you still sore over what they did to Emily? They aren't bad engines, you know, David. They're just quarrelsome. That's how all brothers are sometimes."

"I wouldn't say sometimes," said David. "It's almost their job on this railway! And I can't believe Douglas knocked you over that evening! Even if Emily got after me for locking him up with Daisy that night, I still think it was smart to do for your own well-being."

"You call that smart?" Edward sniffed. "If you let Mr. Percival handle him, that would have been smart to me!"

"He knocked you over, Edward! And you're the oldest of us all among the engines," said David. "That was a sheer sign of disrespect and lack of judgement from Douglas! I'm surprised you still trust him after that!"

Edward almost answered back when his guards whistle blew and he had to go on his way. He too was now feeling rather irritated with David's sudden turn in attitude with him. And this little issue of David's would continue for another day with more engines before anything would improve.

As evening began to set in, Emily had returned to Knapford Station and had been thinking of a plan to help bring David and her brothers together, when she saw Edward and Henry come by. Neither of them seemed very happy.

"Edward, Henry? Are you two alright?" asked Emily.

"Yes, but not if you count David arguing with us!" huffed Henry.

"What are you talking about, Henry?" asked Emily.

"He met me at Gordon's Hill when my driver called for Donald and Douglas to help me with my low water, and he told me not to trust them and think of their misdeeds instead!"

"He got into a brief spat with me too," said Edward. "Just before I left Wellsworth with my passengers, I saw him come along, looking irritated about them. All he went on about was how Douglas accidentally knocked me over! This isn't what he's usually like. It seems he's taking his annoyance out on other engines instead of Donald and Douglas now!"

"What?" she asked. "That doesn't sound like David."

"Oh, he was quite stubborn with both of us," said Henry.

Emily was surprised. She did not expect David to suddenly change like this, and she did not want to allow it for a moment. But before she could talk to him, she had her plan to think about before she forgot about it.

"This is quite unusual," she said. "But don't worry, Edward and Henry. I'll see what I can do about him. Right now, there's something else I have to do." And she went on her way to mention her plan to her brothers and see what they would think about it. As patient as she managed to be with David so far, she was beginning to get a little tired of hearing nothing but displeasure from him over something that wasn't as big a deal as he was turning it into. If her brothers accepted her idea, she would have to convince David to accept it too. Something that would be easier said than done.

Donald and Douglas were idling together in their shed at Arlesburgh, when they heard Emily's whistle. They looked and saw her coming until she stopped right at them, looking full of thought.

"Hello again, Emily," said Donald. "What brings you here?"

"Hello, you two," she said. "I'm here because, I've been thinking a little about you today, and I want to form a plan with you if I can."

"Of course, Emily," said Douglas. "What's your plan?"

"Well, you may recall that my friend David has not been very friendly with either of you," said Emily.

"Nae. I cannae say he has," said Donald, feeling nervous just at David's name.

"Nae," said Douglas. "He's been so cold to both of us of late. I understand a little, given what we accidentally did to you, and since he lost his father, who you once belonged to…but I didnae think he'd feel such immense hatred for both of us."

"Neither did I," said Emily. "But the day after he let you go, Douglas, he came to me that same night after I had suffered through three frightful nightmares about him going up against you."

Emily told them all about how David was the reason Sailor John was kicked out of the Navy, how he defeated the pirate and gained his own ship to sail and run his own life with. And of course, she told them about how he treated the two of them so coldly mostly through guilt and shame of possibly causing Sailor John to wreak havoc on Sodor, and how she assured him he didn't need to feel ashamed. The twins were rather intrigued by this matter.

"And he saved your driver, Douglas," said Emily. "He saved him from a sudden shark attack out on the water a few days ago."

"Aye, he told me himself after it all happened," said Douglas.

"David is certainly one with courage," said Donald.

"And yet he still hates us," Douglas sighed. "Donnie and I feel quite miserable and disappointed aboot that. Please, Emily, is there anything that can be done? We want to be his friend too."

"Well, I think I'll solve the problem," said Emily. "I think I should just bring David here and have him listen to all our sides of the story, no matter what he may say. I want him to know exactly what happened between us and how we've been doing so well lately."

"Really, Emily?" Douglas asked. "That would be most lovely indeed!"

"But to do that, I must know," said Emily. "Do you two have a time when you won't be working?"

"We are busy until the day after tomorrow," said Donald. "We won't be working that morning."

"Hmm. That works for me too," said Emily. "I don't have any work until the afternoon of that day either. So, what do you say? Could I bring David here and bring him together with you?"

"Aye! That might work! Thanks, Emily," said Donald. Emily smiled and made her way back to Tidmouth Sheds, wondering how David would take to her plan when she saw him next.

"Douggie…do you think this will work?" Donald asked.

"Hmm…I dinna know, Donnie," Douglas replied. "I just hope David will be in a listening mood by then. I sure hope so…"

The next morning, Emily found David at Knapford Station again. It seemed like a normal routine for him at this point. All Emily hoped for was that he would agree so she could keep her plan going smoothly.

"Morning, Emily," he said.

"Morning, David," said Emily. "May I speak with you?"

"What is it?" he asked.

"Now before you judge too soon, let me explain," said Emily. "I went to talk to Donald and Douglas about how you've mostly felt sheer hatred and contempt for them. I am starting to get tired of your continuing displeasure for them. And so, I decided that I don't care what you may say about the matter, but tomorrow morning, I am taking you right to them to hear everything clearly, so you'll see what they are really like. No questions asked!"

David wanted to oblige to Emily's wishes as he cared deeply for her, but after everything he had dealt with from arguing with some of the engines, he didn't like being told what to do, especially since he was a captain. Instead, he looked at Emily annoyingly.

"I will NOT listen to what they have to say! They're sure to be bluffing!" And he scoffed angrily before marching away. Before Emily could call after him, he disappeared around the bend of the station. After being rebuffed for a plan she had to help her friend, Emily's patience was beginning to waver.

"That is it," she hissed to herself. "If he gives anyone else that attitude, I'll have no choice but to give him a little shock myself!" And she angrily started her own work for the day.

Throughout half the day, David did not run into any engines. But then that afternoon, on his way home along the road leading to Ffarquhar, he suddenly saw Mavis stop at a signal. And to his displeasure, she began talking aloud to herself about Donald and Douglas' traits of working hard and meaning well. At this point, David simply couldn't help it. He had to speak his mind.

"How do you do it, Mavis? Donald and Douglas are the most problematic engines I've ever heard of!" he exclaimed.

Mavis looked with surprise to where the voice came from. "Who…who are you?" she asked.

"I'm David Rider. The son of Emily's original driver. And don't get me started on Donald and Douglas! I don't like them! I remember what they did to Emily a year and a half ago, and to Edward just a few days ago! Those engine have SUCH a problem with arguing!"

"Hmph!" Mavis scoffed. "Yes. I actually heard about some of your behavior with them! You've been quite a crab pot lately! Diesel, 'Arry and Bert and Diesel 10 are much, much worse than any accident our Scottish friends may have caused! Why do you view them so coldly, David?"

"I have all their misdeeds stuck in my mind due to knowing what they did to Emily two winters ago, and yet everyone around me keeps talking about how useful they are!"

As David and Mavis argued, neither of them saw Emily stop some way behind them and listen to what was going on.

"The engines talk about them that way, because they ARE useful, David!" Mavis said obstinately.

"That's what the storybooks say."

"What are you talking about?" Mavis asked.

David paced a little in circles as he spoke before looking at Mavis again. "Mostly through the storybooks of Thomas, Donald and Douglas are romanticized, deified. But if you strip away the books and look at their deeds…the legacy of Donald and Douglas is failure! Hypocrisy, hubris."

"That's not true!" Mavis said defiantly.

David argued back with a rather lengthy statement. "At the height of their powers, they allowed Emily to slip down Gordon's Hill, get hit by their snowball and derail her! It was Donald and Douglas who masqueraded with each other's tenders, misplaced Thomas' special coach, crashed into a signal box, destroyed and took the life of a spiteful brakevan, smashed Trevor's hay cart, blamed Duck for not knowing how to shunt their trucks, abandoned each other in the snow, and of course, instilling fright and anger into Emily just before Christmas!"

Mavis immediately countered what David said. "And it was Donald and Douglas who rescued Henry from being buried in the snow, helped Thomas out of a stationmaster's house, rescued him and his Christmas tree, met their duck friend Dilly, helped repair Henry's forest, helped each other back onto the rails, assisted with building the Harwick Branch Line, escorted Cap'n Calles' ship to the pier, saved one another from being buried in the snow, and formed a strong sibling bond with Emily!"

"And yet they still have never learned their lesson about not arguing over the smallest things!" David exclaimed as he continued on his way home. Mavis' signal went green and she set off too, fuming over David's attitude.

As Emily watched David walk away and down the street, she thought about what had been going on. Even though David had managed to keep his promise to her and not go after Donald and Douglas, he was now becoming rather quarrelsome with several of the engines about the twins. Almost as if David gave up his anger for Donald and Douglas and traded it out for arguing with the rest of the engines about them. And Emily did not think this was fair at all. So, she made a decision.

"Emily, enough is enough," she said to herself. As she huffed away to rest until her next train, she suddenly got one last idea. One that David would not be able to refuse. She told her driver everything she had just thought of, and he thought it was brilliant.

"Very clever girl, Emily," he beamed. "But for that…you'll need a recording device."

"But where and how will I find one of those?" Emily asked.

"Don't worry, Emily. It so happens that I have a cassette tape myself back home," said her driver. "I'll run home and get it as soon as you're back at the sheds."

Soon enough, Emily was in her berth to rest while her driver dashed off. About an hour later, he was back with the cassette recorder. He reversed Emily inside her berth and closed the shed doors. Then he came up in front of her.

"Here it is, Emily. Do you really want to do this?" he asked.

"Yes. I'm ready to record," said Emily. "Let me know when I'm ready." Her driver pressed the recording button and gave her a nod to signal her.

From outside the sheds, Percy was passing by with a goods train, when he suddenly heard faint yelling coming from inside one of the berths, making him stop and try to listen. He could tell it was Emily's voice and felt rather nervous. Then about fifteen seconds later, the yelling stopped. Percy was uncoupled from his train and he carefully approached the sheds. As he crossed the turntable. Then the doors opened, and Emily began to come out. She was surprised to see Percy.

"Oh! Percy, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I…I heard you…screaming in there, Emily," Percy said worriedly. "What happened?"

"Oh! Nothing happened, Percy. I'm sorry I scared you. I was actually recording something. Right here."

Her driver still had the cassette tape and played it for Percy. Percy listened with eyes as large as saucers and a slightly open mouth. When the recording was finished, he looked at Emily with rather wet-looking eyes.

"Shh. It's okay, Percy," said Emily as she touched her cheeks to Percy's and cuddled him. "I wasn't really angry. It was just an act."

"Oh. Thank you, Emily. But…what is that all about?" Percy asked.

Emily told Percy about where the words came from, and that it was meant to be played to David in a last effort to make him come to his senses once more and agree to coming together with Donald and Douglas.

"I see…" said Percy. "Well…why don't I keep it safe until I see David next?"

"Will you?" asked Emily.

"Of course I will," promised Percy. "I'll give it to him tonight if I can."

"Thank you, Percy," said Emily. "I just hope this works."

So Percy's driver took the cassette tape, and returned Percy to his train to let Emily out, and she set off to continue on her schedule, which would leave her rather tired that night. Percy finished his work in good time too, but didn't see David. By the time he finished by early evening, it was his turn to rest until he was due to take the mail train that night.

But by the time night came, Percy had somewhat forgotten about David and the recording he was supposed to play him, thinking about his mail run. He gathered the mail wagons and set off into the night. He delivered most of the mail in good time to most of the stations, feeling quite calm and confident…until his driver spoke up.

"Uh…Percy? We haven't seen David at all today," he said.

"What? Oh no!" gasped Percy. "Emily is supposed to take him to Donald and Douglas tomorrow!"

"Hmm. Well, if he's at Tidmouth Sheds by any possibility when we come back, then we'll give it to him."

At last, Percy finished all the mail deliveries, and left his wagons in the yards, hoping immensely that David would be at the sheds to receive Emily's little plan.

At Tidmouth Sheds, Percy settled himself on the turntable, but before he started turning around to his berth, he could hear snoring. He looked and saw it was Emily, who had clearly had a very busy day and had been very tired when she fell asleep. Compared to the night he and Emily shared together before David's grudge showed itself, Percy could now hear the sound clearly, and was about as interested in what he was hearing as Thomas was.

He curiously huffed toward Emily until he softly touched her buffers and kept listening to her lovely snoring.

"Zzz…Oh, Donald…Zzz…Douglas, it's okay…Zzz…Ooh…" she snored.

"Oh…" Percy breathed dreamily. "You're so adorable, Emily." And he very gently pushed Emily into her berth. She continued to snore gently as she was placed inside her berth. Then as Emily snored, then puckered her lips and whistled out, Percy leaned in…and touched his cheek to Emily's lips, who kissed him in her sleep before snoring again.

"Sweet dreams, mother," Percy said with a smile.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, Percy saw someone walking into Thomas' berth. Percy smiled when he saw who it was and reversed back onto the turntable.

David stepped out of the moonlight and into Thomas' berth and looked around in silence. He walked slowly to the crate he had put there some time ago and opened it again. Then he slowly took out the old photograph of Thomas he had put there before, looked down at it, then sat down on the rails, bowing his head, not knowing what to think. He didn't want to argue with the other engines…if only he could let go of his contempt for Emily's brother figures. If only he didn't feel so conditioned to safeguard Emily…until Percy peeped his whistle feebly.

"Percy?" David said, looking up. Indeed, there he was. "Percy!"

Percy came in and started being cheeky with the young captain, speaking quickly and feistily. "David, you've been rather stubborn recently! You and all your arguing and…!"

"Yes…yeah, I know," David said through Percy's fast and energetic talking.

"You need to get up off your-" Percy's next few words were drowned out by a loud snore from Emily. "-and cooperate, already!" finished Percy.

"Hey, your Emily's son, watch the language," David said sternly before quieting down. "I wish I could make you understand, but I'm not backing down. Nothing can make me come to terms with those Scotsmen."

Percy gave David a smug glare and peeped his whistle quickly. His driver stepped down with the tape cassette Emily's driver gave him. He pushed a button, and the recording played. Not two words into the recording, David popped his eyes, gaped and felt a sudden heavy burn hit inside his chest.

_**"FOR GOODNESS SAKES, you two! I was trying to help you OUT!"**_

David shut his eyes tight and curled his lips into a frown as he sneered back at Percy. "That was a cheap move."

Percy smirked back as David listened until the recording was done.

_**"If YOU would just stop arguing for one minute, you'd see it's ME that needs some help now!"**_

When silence ensued again, David sighed through his closed mouth and stayed perfectly still. Without moving his head, he turned his eyes to Emily.

Emily suddenly heard footsteps stop in front of her. Her eyes fluttered open and she saw David standing there. As he spoke, he turned to leave the sheds before looking at her again.

"Tomorrow morning. 7:30 a.m. I will listen to what your brothers have to say…but only for my father's sake." And with a slight wink, he shut the berth doors. Emily stood there, feeling her boiler tingle with wonder. Her plan had worked. At last, she would be able to give David a clear image of what her brother figures were really like. She fell asleep again, managing to smile with assurance.

The next morning, at 7:30 a.m., Emily woke up before the other engines and looked around. Only a few moments later, her shed doors opened, and there was David, as he had planned.

"Alright, David," said Emily. "Thank you for coming as you promised. Climb aboard, and I'll take you to my brothers."

David nodded and stepped on-board Emily. And soon, they were off for Arlesburgh to settle this entire matter, and for the entire ride, he stayed quiet, thinking about how this would all turn out. What would he hear, and what would he learn?

At Arlesburgh, Donald and Douglas were waiting for Emily outside their sheds, wondering what would come of this. Sure enough, Emily came puffing along toward them. She came up on Douglas' line and stopped right at his buffers.

"Good morning, Donald and Douglas," said Emily.

"Good morning, Emily," the twins said together. "Is…is he here?"

"Yes, he is," said Emily. David stepped down from Emily's cab and began to approach Douglas, who looked at the captain rather nervously. David looked at Douglas with conflict and indecision. He looked at Donald just the same, then back to Emily...then a smile curved his lips upward a little.

He turned back to Douglas and broke the silence, sounding surprisingly pleasant. "There's plenty for me to learn this morning. Speak up. What's your story?"

Donald and Douglas were both a little surprised by his sudden pleasantry, but took this as a good sign. So they began.

"Well, Captain David. I assume you don't need an introduction with us," said Donald.

"No, I don't," David answered. "Throughout my childhood before I served in the Navy, I've read about you in storybooks. But I'm here just to hear about your life with Emily as her brothers. I want the real clear image, and Emily believes the best way for me to hear it is through all three of you."

"Oh. Well, of course, sir," said Douglas. "So you see, Donnie and I were aware of Emily ever since she first came to Sodor. We had a few brief encounters with her back then, but didn't really work together. There was one unfortunate time when Emily was going through her phase of being bossy and rude to all of us, no thanks to what Gordon and James did to her. After Thomas had attacked 'Arry and Bert for what they said about her, he flew into another rage at all of us when we all lost faith in Emily. Even the two of us spoke out against her, which drove Thomas wild with anger."

"Aye," Douglas continued. "But then when she and Thomas came back the next morning, we found out everything she had told him and apologized right after Gordon and James were punished. But after that, not much happened between us, until several years later, when Thomas and Emily came by to help us with some work out here. Thomas worked with Donnie, and I worked with Emily."

"Yes, David. I worked closely with Douglas alone first," said Emily.

Douglas went on. "I told Emily a little aboot when Donnie and I argued after crashing into Trevor's hay cart, and how we came back together. She joked that we were thought to be more mature than that. Although I told her we could have our own little jokes, she could be assured that we'd never try anything rash on her. It was quite a lovely time to be working with her."

"I see," said David.

"But then, a year and a half later, there came the winter when Douggie and I had to take a big shipment of steel pipes to Vicarstown," said Donald. "Emily was sent to help us both while the two of us were arguing over being able to manage it ourselves. I took the front first, while Emily and Douggie took the back. As we started off, Douggie began telling tales aboot me to Emily."

"And since I felt amused by those stories, I couldn't help but laugh," said Emily. "Donald heard us laughing and stopped the train, wanting to swap places with Douglas. I wanted them both to be happy, so I kindly suggested that Douglas take the front."

"And I agreed because she asked me so nicely," said Douglas, winking to Emily. "But as we reversed to swap lines, Toby had to veer away from us from behind, and Gordon's express was held up a little bit."

Emily spoke next. "Then Donald began to tell me about when Douglas broke down and had to be saved by Donald. I laughed again as we went up Gordon's Hill. Douglas heard us both and stopped right on the hill. I thought the situation was getting silly."

"I had stopped for two reasons," said Douglas. "One, because I was getting annoyed with Donald causing Emily to unintentionally laugh at me, and secondly, since I knew about a system James' trucks once had where they would lock on the hill. I assumed the flatbeds' brakes would have locked on so she wouldn't slip down the hill while we swapped back. Sadly, I was wrong and as we argued on the hill, Emily slipped back down the hill."

Donald shuddered as he spoke. "Then…as we fought, Douggie bumped me so, that a piece of coal fell out and rolled down into a giant snowball, on towards Emily. It was then, we both noticed what we had done and rushed down to try and help her…but the snowball was too quick for us and it hit her right on."

"So…you tried to save her?" David asked.

"Even if it didn't work, yes, we did. So scary," Douglas sighed. "And if only we didn't argue even further as soon as we reached her, she probably never would have had to scare us."

"It's what she needed to do, Douggie," said Donald. "It was for the best."

"Then what?" asked David.

"While Donnie ran to fetch Harvey, I stayed with Emily to talk things over," Douglas continued. "She accused me of lying to her about my promise of never trying anything rash on her, and I told her I never wanted to hurt her, as well as let her know to take the full front or full back with any train she'd help us with, so she wouldn't be caught between our arguing. Soon, Harvey came along and helped her on track again, while Toby, James and Gordon called us out on what happened. It was then that we fully realized we were both to blame."

"Then, after a rather unusual spell of alluring behavior from her as he began to argue again, we made it to Vicarstown in the end," said Donald.

"The Fat Controller then got after Donald and Douglas rather crossly and gave them just more than a day to make amends to me," said Emily. "And they did, like I told you before. They picked out a little Christmas tree all for myself, and Molly had saved some decorations to help trim the tree, and she arranged for a choir to sing 'Silent Night,' for me."

"Such a lovely singer, she is," said Douglas. "And a very lovely kiss she has too."

"Yes," said Emily. "I gave Donald a nose-touch, and a kiss to Douglas' cheek. And so, we came back together that same winter."

David was greatly intrigued by now and wanted to hear more. "What happened after that between the three of you?"

"Well, last summer, Douglas suffered quite an accident himself," said Emily. "So the Fat Controller sent me to do his work and help Donald on this part of the railway. I was excited for that since I had not interacted much with Donald. Only the next day after I began working with him, a storm rolled in and we worked together to save Skiff from the rough waves."

"That was very brave of her," said Donald. "But before she came to help me, I was feeling left out because my duck, named Dilly had been missing for a while. Everyone was worried about her…and Emily found her again, with several ducklings and a mate! That was a lovely evening, seeing my duck and ducklings!"

"By the time Douglas was repaired and I was set to go home, I decided I loved both of them just the same," Emily smiled. "By then, I had a positive experience working with both of them, one at a time. I felt as though I knew them both very well and were complete brothers to me."

"Aye. By then, we were in quite the harmony," said Donald. "And the latest event between all three of us came when your father visited the island."

"Donnie and I were arguing with each other once again, over who was the older brother," said Douglas "Very trivial, I must admit, but when Lawrence visited Emily, she mentioned our argument to him, and he got an idea. When we passed by the sheds, he invited us over and showed us some photo slides of when Emily was first built. It was beautiful to see pieces of the beginning of her life. Then he showed us slides of the two of us being built at the same time. And with that, our issue was settled that time too."

"So you see, David," said Donald. "We may be quarrelsome sometimes. We don't like being that way all the time. It's inevitable, but we still wish to be friendly and good-natured to everyone on this island…even some of the diesels."

"Aye," said Douglas. "We never had any sheer distaste for Emily. We always loved her as a sister figure, and we will continue to feel so for her as long as we live. What happened that winter, and what could happen in the future, whether it involves her or not, will always be accidental. We never wish to cause any intentional trouble."

"And…that's everything. Now you know it all," said Donald. Then he, Douglas and Emily all looked at David, waiting for him to respond.

And so, David had heard everything. He stood there in astonishment. His opinion about Donald and Douglas had changed immensely. He breathed unsteadily and just looked at all three engines before sitting down again, comprehending everything. They weren't bad engines. Just quarrelsome, but still meaning to be loyal and really useful.

He looked at the two brothers with a sense of regret for his behavior, but also great acceptance for the two engines. He touched his silver charm and held his sword in its sheath with his left hand as he stepped toward them.

"I think at last, we understand one another, Donald and Douglas," he said. "I am very proud of both of you for ultimately letting Emily experience the joy and love of having two brothers to work with from time to time. I was wrong. You are both very fine engines on this railway. I look forward to chances to possibly work with you too. You're both good brothers to Emily. Well done."

Donald and Douglas smiled. "Well! This is wonderful, David!" they said. "Thank you!"

"My pleasure," said David. "Thank you both, for giving me the real inside story. Most amazing."

As David boarded Emily again, they set off back to the main line. David waved happily to Donald and Douglas as they whistled back until they were out of sight. All that day, David felt quite happy with his accomplishment. His hopes for changing for the better had come true. He had formed a fair friendship with Jock, his grudge on Donald and Douglas was gone, and Emily had given him two brand new friends.

And that evening, Emily and David were resting in her berth at Tidmouth Sheds, with David sitting on her running plate as they watched the sunset. For a while, they said nothing as the sun lowered on the horizon, until Emily broke the silence with a very pleasant voice.

"David, I'm so happy for all four of us. Me, you and Donald and Douglas," she sighed. "Now, you've got a pair of new friends to look forward to."

"Thanks, Emily," David replied. "You really are an amazing engine, and so are Donald and Douglas in their own way."

"So, you could say that I brought all four of us together as one," Emily smiled.

"You did indeed, darling angel," David beamed as he kissed her cheek. And he and Emily laughed happily together.

* * *

And that's a wrap! Hope you all enjoyed it cause Jeremy sure as hell enjoyed making it. So, until next time, tell us what you thought of this one and we'll see you all later.


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